diff --git a/time.go b/time.go
index 9de84ea..e67cce1 100644
--- a/time.go
+++ b/time.go
@@ -51,6 +51,14 @@ func GetDurationStamp(t time.Time) string {
 	return FormatDuration(duration)
 }
 
+// allows nil
+func HumanDuration(d *time.Duration) string {
+	if d == nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return FormatDuration(*d)
+}
+
 func FormatDuration(d time.Duration) string {
 	result := ""
 
@@ -94,6 +102,19 @@ func FormatDuration(d time.Duration) string {
 	if ms > 100 {
 		// todo: print .3s, etc ?
 	}
-	result += fmt.Sprintf("%dms", ms)
+	if ms > 0 {
+		result += fmt.Sprintf("%dms", ms)
+		return result
+	}
+
+	// report in milliseconds
+	mc := int(d.Microseconds())
+	if mc > 0 {
+		result += fmt.Sprintf("%dmc", mc)
+		return result
+	}
+
+	ns := int(d.Nanoseconds())
+	result += fmt.Sprintf("%dns", ns)
 	return result
 }