hello mothman and Cruithne, welcome to the forum 
mothman, it sounds to me like you were naturally using chaining (link). Usually very short LDs are due to being new to lucidity and the excitement waking the dreamer up. There are several methods of prolonging LDs … rubbing your hands together, touching/feeling objects in the dreamworld, pausing and focusing on one thing in the dream, using vocal commands (this last one always works), some also like the spinning tech - but this can backfire and just give you a false awakening 
hello Cruithne, don’t be shy 
we are a friendly bunch and I’m sure you will enjoy your time here 