PostgreSQL – How to Time SQL Queries Using psql

Since you state that you are open to other solutions I might suggest looking at terminal multiplexers such as screen or tmux. In my opinion tmux is a better choice due to its unique name (easier to get relevant hits in search engines).

Essentially this kind of software allows you to detach from a shell and later resume the session.

You can circumvent this limitation by piping the whole command to psql:

echo "\copy tbl FROM '/path/to/myfile.pgsql'" | psql mydb