diff --git a/src/util/time.h b/src/util/time.h
--- a/src/util/time.h
+++ b/src/util/time.h
@@ -12,6 +12,17 @@
 
 void UninterruptibleSleep(const std::chrono::microseconds &n);
 
+/**
+ * Helper to count the seconds of a duration.
+ *
+ * All durations should be using std::chrono and calling this should generally
+ * be avoided in code. Though, it is still preferred to an inline t.count() to
+ * protect against a reliance on the exact type of t.
+ */
+inline int64_t count_seconds(std::chrono::seconds t) {
+    return t.count();
+}
+
 /**
  * DEPRECATED
  * Use either GetSystemTimeInSeconds (not mockable) or GetTime<T> (mockable)