Justin ~
Smooth is fast.
Here's what I do:
Use the timer at the beginning of the range session to get a baseline time. Then put the timer away and work on doing everything as smoothly as possible, with no wasted motion. Don't worry about the time per se. Smooth will be fast, so worry about finding the smoothest and most economical ways to do what you want to do.
After working on smooth motions for awhile, get the timer back out. Do not try to "beat" the timer yet. At this point, it's a measurement device, not a challenge. As much as possible, continue doing the exact same practice and speed you were doing without the timer, but measure your times and see where you're at. Keep those same economical motions with the timer that you were doing without the timer.
Once you believe you have your motions as smooth as you can possibly make them, then and only then should you try to race the timer a little. Speed up only until you start to fumble or miss -- then put the timer away and again work on smooth for awhile. When you believe you've gotten smoothed back out, get the timer out and use it to measure exactly how you've been doing.
Now spend some significant practice time working on smooth motions with the timer to record the pace and help you push it just a little.
Push it a little, find the fumble point, then slow down just enough to smooth it out and practice that smoothness for awhile. Push it to the fumble point, smooth it out, practice that speed. Push it, smooth it, practice it. Over and over ...
Spend the majority of your practice time in the smooth/practice phase, mostly using the timer to record rather than to push. And when you finish off, try to finish off on a smooth section, not on a push-it-to-the-limit section. You want to leave the range with the memory of the timer creating no added stress, just measuring your smooth, efficient work.
Basically, what you want to do is to habituate yourself not to begin fumbling/racing when you hear the timer. It's just your cue to do the job in front of you as efficiently as you are able. Most people who foul up in competition do so because they've either never worked with the timer outside of competition, or because they have trained themselves to jump straight past the smooth-is-fast zone into fumble territory when they hear the beep.
pax