ANSWER:

When using GNU Screen, I set my hardline to include the current system time and date.

This is an excerpt from my screenrc:

hardstatus alwayslastline
hardstatus string '%= Bk %c[ %y%H %c ][%= %=kw%?%-Lw%?%g(%W%n*%f%t%?(%u)%?%g)%y%?%+Lw%?%?%= %g][%Y%Y-%m-%d %W%c %g]'

The relavant part is the %Y%Y-%m-%d %W%c %g

by Tim from http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/40309