title: Time function with arguments in python
body: <p>I have a function with a string as an argument that returns two lists</p>
  
  <p>e.g.</p>
  
  <pre><code>def return_words(string):
      return list1, list2
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Obviously there's code in between. I want to be able to time this function accurately for various strings as I need to improve efficiency when long strings are inputted.</p>
  
  <p>Sorry if this is a trivial question as I am new to python.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks</p>