You can't do this very accurately, sure, but you can add some meaning - e.g. report back when each of a number of known steps is completed. That gives a vague i

You can't do this very accurately, sure, but you can add some meaning - e.g. report back when each of a number of known steps is completed. That gives a vague idea of whether we're talking seconds or minutes. I might be able to do something else once I know a specific step is complete.