My 7 year old (almost 8) is just driving us nuts by his absent
mindeness - I mean the type of behavior where we ask him to put on his
shoes, 5 min later we remind him, he still is playing around and then 5
min later we remind him and by the fourth time, I lose my patience and
raise my voice...

This seems to apply to most routine tasks - brushing teeth, getting
dressed, setting the table. He has basically learned to tune us out
till the final raised voice reminder.

I'm thinking of using a chart to remind him what his daily tasks are
with a penalty of an 5 min earlier bed time for each task not completed
on time and fully. I hate to be soo regimented, but it seems to me
that is better than feeling like I'm always yelling at him.

Any other ideas for getting through these daily chores with a minimum
of fuss and nagging?

Thanks!