Add the following to your .emacs file: (require 'idle-require) (setq idle-require-symbols '(cedet nxml-mode)) ;; <- Specify packages here. (idle-require 'cedet) ;; <- Or like this. (idle-require-mode 1) ;; starts loading As soon as Emacs goes idle for `idle-require-idle-delay' seconds, `idle-require-mode' will start loading the files, symbols or functions in `idle-require-symbols'. If that is nil, all autoload functions will be loaded, one at a time. Use `idle-require-load-break' to give your CPU a break between each load. Otherwise, you might create 100% CPU load on your system.