diff --git a/time/time.go b/time/time.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..05e89da9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/time/time.go
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+package time
+
+import (
+	"math"
+	"math/rand"
+	"net/http"
+	"strconv"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/prometheus/common/model"
+	"github.com/weaveworks/common/httpgrpc"
+)
+
+const (
+	nanosecondsInMillisecond = int64(time.Millisecond / time.Nanosecond)
+)
+
+func ToMillis(t time.Time) int64 {
+	return t.UnixNano() / nanosecondsInMillisecond
+}
+
+// FromMillis is a helper to turn milliseconds -> time.Time
+func FromMillis(ms int64) time.Time {
+	return time.Unix(0, ms*nanosecondsInMillisecond)
+}
+
+// FormatTimeMillis returns a human readable version of the input time (in milliseconds).
+func FormatTimeMillis(ms int64) string {
+	return FromMillis(ms).String()
+}
+
+// FormatTimeModel returns a human readable version of the input time.
+func FormatTimeModel(t model.Time) string {
+	return FromMillis(int64(t)).String()
+}
+
+// ParseTime parses the string into an int64, milliseconds since epoch.
+func ParseTime(s string) (int64, error) {
+	if t, err := strconv.ParseFloat(s, 64); err == nil {
+		s, ns := math.Modf(t)
+		ns = math.Round(ns*1000) / 1000
+		tm := time.Unix(int64(s), int64(ns*float64(time.Second)))
+		return ToMillis(tm), nil
+	}
+	if t, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339Nano, s); err == nil {
+		return ToMillis(t), nil
+	}
+	return 0, httpgrpc.Errorf(http.StatusBadRequest, "cannot parse %q to a valid timestamp", s)
+}
+
+// DurationWithJitter returns random duration from "input - input*variance" to "input + input*variance" interval.
+func DurationWithJitter(input time.Duration, variancePerc float64) time.Duration {
+	// No duration? No jitter.
+	if input == 0 {
+		return 0
+	}
+
+	variance := int64(float64(input) * variancePerc)
+	jitter := rand.Int63n(variance*2) - variance
+
+	return input + time.Duration(jitter)
+}
+
+// DurationWithPositiveJitter returns random duration from "input" to "input + input*variance" interval.
+func DurationWithPositiveJitter(input time.Duration, variancePerc float64) time.Duration {
+	// No duration? No jitter.
+	if input == 0 {
+		return 0
+	}
+
+	variance := int64(float64(input) * variancePerc)
+	jitter := rand.Int63n(variance)
+
+	return input + time.Duration(jitter)
+}
+
+// NewDisableableTicker essentially wraps NewTicker but allows the ticker to be disabled by passing
+// zero duration as the interval. Returns a function for stopping the ticker, and the ticker channel.
+func NewDisableableTicker(interval time.Duration) (func(), <-chan time.Time) {
+	if interval == 0 {
+		return func() {}, nil
+	}
+
+	tick := time.NewTicker(interval)
+	return func() { tick.Stop() }, tick.C
+}
diff --git a/time/time_test.go b/time/time_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b5b572d8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/time/time_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+package time
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestTimeFromMillis(t *testing.T) {
+	var testExpr = []struct {
+		input    int64
+		expected time.Time
+	}{
+		{input: 1000, expected: time.Unix(1, 0)},
+		{input: 1500, expected: time.Unix(1, 500*nanosecondsInMillisecond)},
+	}
+
+	for i, c := range testExpr {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprint(i), func(t *testing.T) {
+			res := FromMillis(c.input)
+			require.Equal(t, c.expected, res)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDurationWithJitter(t *testing.T) {
+	const numRuns = 1000
+
+	for i := 0; i < numRuns; i++ {
+		actual := DurationWithJitter(time.Minute, 0.5)
+		assert.GreaterOrEqual(t, int64(actual), int64(30*time.Second))
+		assert.LessOrEqual(t, int64(actual), int64(90*time.Second))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDurationWithJitter_ZeroInputDuration(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.Equal(t, time.Duration(0), DurationWithJitter(time.Duration(0), 0.5))
+}
+
+func TestDurationWithPositiveJitter(t *testing.T) {
+	const numRuns = 1000
+
+	for i := 0; i < numRuns; i++ {
+		actual := DurationWithPositiveJitter(time.Minute, 0.5)
+		assert.GreaterOrEqual(t, int64(actual), int64(60*time.Second))
+		assert.LessOrEqual(t, int64(actual), int64(90*time.Second))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDurationWithPositiveJitter_ZeroInputDuration(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.Equal(t, time.Duration(0), DurationWithPositiveJitter(time.Duration(0), 0.5))
+}
+
+func TestParseTime(t *testing.T) {
+	var tests = []struct {
+		input  string
+		fail   bool
+		result time.Time
+	}{
+		{
+			input: "",
+			fail:  true,
+		}, {
+			input: "abc",
+			fail:  true,
+		}, {
+			input: "30s",
+			fail:  true,
+		}, {
+			input:  "123",
+			result: time.Unix(123, 0),
+		}, {
+			input:  "123.123",
+			result: time.Unix(123, 123000000),
+		}, {
+			input:  "2015-06-03T13:21:58.555Z",
+			result: time.Unix(1433337718, 555*time.Millisecond.Nanoseconds()),
+		}, {
+			input:  "2015-06-03T14:21:58.555+01:00",
+			result: time.Unix(1433337718, 555*time.Millisecond.Nanoseconds()),
+		}, {
+			// Test nanosecond rounding.
+			input:  "2015-06-03T13:21:58.56789Z",
+			result: time.Unix(1433337718, 567*1e6),
+		}, {
+			// Test float rounding.
+			input:  "1543578564.705",
+			result: time.Unix(1543578564, 705*1e6),
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		ts, err := ParseTime(test.input)
+		if test.fail {
+			require.Error(t, err)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, ToMillis(test.result), ts)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNewDisableableTicker_Enabled(t *testing.T) {
+	stop, ch := NewDisableableTicker(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	defer stop()
+
+	time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	select {
+	case <-ch:
+		break
+	default:
+		t.Error("ticker should have ticked when enabled")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNewDisableableTicker_Disabled(t *testing.T) {
+	stop, ch := NewDisableableTicker(0)
+	defer stop()
+
+	time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	select {
+	case <-ch:
+		t.Error("ticker should not have ticked when disabled")
+	default:
+		break
+	}
+}