"John" wrote:
Is there any way to have a routine pause but still allow
the user to use the worksheet during the pause?

Use Application.OnTime. Be sure to put the procedures (at least the OnTime
procedure) into a standard module (click on Insert, then Module in VBA), not
a worksheet module (right-click Excel tab, click on View Code).

Example....


Sub doit1()
With Sheets("sheet2").Range("a1")
.Value = Now
.NumberFormat = "m/dd/yyyy h:mm:ss"
.EntireColumn.AutoFit
End With
Application.OnTime Now + TimeSerial(0, 0, 3), "doit2"
End Sub

Sub doit2()
With Sheets("sheet2").Range("a2")
.Value = Now
.NumberFormat = "m/dd/yyyy h:mm:ss"
End With
End Sub