Yeah, that would be the same as the Long Wait idea, although here you're suggesting that you can input any number as a variable. True that other major roguelikes include that feature.
Perhaps to keep the system simple I could still, as planned, limit it to 50 turns at a time, and of course threats would stop it, as would any newly completed Fabricator or Repair Station task in sight. The number could also be changed via the options if desired, though I'd probably make that a cfg-only edit.