"Discipline," as originally used, meant guidance and teaching, rather than punishment. And time-outs, if used, are ideally a calm retreat in which a child (and even a parent) can regain control of emotions, and not a means of deprivation or punishment, which only tends to provoke even further outrage in some children who sense that they are being punished unfairly. There are children for whom time-outs don't seem to work at all. Ever.
While there's a range of opinion, many parenting experts doubt that time-outs are as useful as other forms of teaching, and for some little personalities, they do not work at all. Particularly if the time-out itself becomes the battle, and the original misbehavior is lost in a drawn-out struggle to make the child "do his time." This can begin an antagonistic relationship between parent and child, and between child and "discipline," which is sad and unnecessary.
It's helpful to recall that a frustrated child who's barely out of babyhood has very little emotional capacity to be patient, consider alternatives, and make the wisest choice. Smartness and self-control don't happen simultaneously for most kids; very intelligent kids can be lacking in impulse control, which is learned only gradually over the next several years – more for some children than others. And once a melt-down has begun, rational reasoning is even less within the child's reach. It's not their fault. Even grownups haven't mastered it under all circumstances.
Check out this video to see Dr. Harvey Karp "reach" young children and get them on his team, emotionally. Very effective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ1428uYs2g&NR.... .
And since your daughter is getting a little older, and sounds smart and verbal, you may get wonderful results from the techniques taught in How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, and Listen So Kids Will Talk, by Faber and Mazlish.
I've used this approach with stunning success with my grandson since he was around 2.5. Learn how to most effectively address your child's needs while simultaneously helping her to understand and respect your needs and limits. Find out how she can become a working part of the solution to just about any parenting problem that you'll face. This is an amazing little book that you will reach for often during the next dozen years.