Annotations containing the text token % BARLEFT show you the time left in the current bar. This annotation is updated each time a trade occurs for the instrument associated with the annotation indicator.
By design, Investor/RT chart indicators are driven by the arrival of tick data for the associated instrument. If the instrument you have associated with the annotation does not trade every second you will see only sporadic updates of the annotation. What you can do is add the special demonstration symbol $DEMO to your setup. By default, $DEMO generates a random price tick every 1 second. Add $DEMO as a secondary instrument to your chart. Set the drawing style for the instrument to Invisible so there will be no visual effects from the instrument itself. Then right-click inside the %BARLEFT annotation and choose Associate; choose $DEMO as the associated instrument so $DEMO will drive the annotation. You will then see the annotation update second by second, even when the primary instrument is updating less frequently.