the following is frim bushwhacker two but might apply here to your issue.
your issue is specifically something wrong at your computer.
most other people, me too, have absolutely no lag even of one second let alone a minute. The only thing that takes any time for me is starting a new objective after a reset, but since I have sound turned on I know all the things that are happening behind the scenes.

http://forum.codenameentertainment.com/?thread_id=12010

try those things first. second if you are using firefox then try ANY other browser at all even internet explorer of microsoft edge (2 things I'd never use but a thousand percent better with idols then firefox which for me does not work at all). I acutally use the browser sea monkey and sometimes chrome for idols.

Raymond, thank you very much for this link! I've been having serious lag issues for the last couple weeks too, but turning off hardware acceleration seems to have done the trick. The game is at least playable now, anyway. Thanks again!