How do I makes events continue when i'm not on the layout

I don't know if there is actually a function for this but can you make events continue on a layout when the player is on a different layout. I have an event for a sprite that has to wait 60 seconds after pressing the space bar before happening, I have made the sprite persist so it doesn't disappear but if the player clicks onto a different layout and goes back to the other layout the event will reset and it will wait for another 60 seconds, is there anyway i can make the 60 seconds continue while the player is on another layout??

Thanks in advance!

Use a global variable to store the time. Global variables doesn't reset their values with the layout