[mklein994]

> [...] but I found it difficult to remember to put `;tput bel` on every command that would be slow [...]

What I do in these situations (assuming the job is still in the foreground, and can be interrupted), is suspend the task with ctrl+z and resume with `fg`, chaining it with some other command:

    fg; notify-send "done"

This uses the "job control" feature of `bash`, so it requires no extra setup. Your approach has the simple advantage however, that once it's set up, it just works, automatically.