statusbarTimer

t = STATUSBARTIMER([h],[prefix],) sets the MATLAB status bar to the prefix
("Busy..." if omitted or left blank) followed by a running clock of the
elapsed time. STATUSBARTIMER uses a timer object named statusbarTimer
to keep track of the elapsed time and update the status bar text. The
function returns a handle to that timer object, which will delete
itself and reset the status bar when stop(t) is called.