import datetime starttime = datetime.datetime.now() # long running # do something other lls = [] i = 0 for i in range(300000): lls.append(i) # if len(lls) > 1000: # lls = [] i = i + 1 if i > 1000: lls = [] i = 0 endtime = datetime.datetime.now() print((endtime - starttime))