This application note looks at the principles of manipulating developed methods to get shorter analysis times by making alterations that affect speed, but not the quality of the chromatography. As an illustration, a method for a standard doping drugs test mixture was developed using a 0.25 mm Thermo Scientific ID TRACE™ TR-5MS column. This column gave good separation of nine compounds in around 22 minutes for the original analysis. The method was adapted to a shorter column, maintaining the chromatography but reducing the time required for analysis. The analysis was carried out using a Thermo Scientific DSQ™ GC/MS system in conjunction with TRACE TR-5MS GC columns.