Two things-
ND works just fine for me. You can just rest a camera filter in the red-safety-filter-holder-thingie.
For short dodging times, a footswitch timer is a godsend. If your timer has a footswitch jack, you can rewire it to accept a 1/4" TS jack (guitar plug) and get a momentary switch for musical instruments for about $15 on Amazon or at any Guitar Center.
For really specific burns, I use duplex paper (white on top, black on the bottom), slide a red gel over the hole in the card, and get it aligned when the timer starts, then with my thumb just slide the gel out of the way. I use an audible timer so I just count the burn time in my head.