Adjust timing without light?

I wanna adjust the timing on my 1990 4runner v6. I dont have a timing light. the truck runs decent but has a rough idle and low power, so i was told to try advancing the distributor by turning the dist. while trucks running. Anyways when i turned the distributor counter clockwise to advance the timing, the truck bogged and died, no matter how little i turned it. when turning the distributor clockwise the idle sounded better, but i was told clockwise was bad.. its an old truck so im not looking for exact timing, just close-to. Any tips? I read somewhere about using a screwdriver to find TDC and then adjusting the distributor so the rotors pointing at #1 any tips or advice??? I also read i can find TDC by watching the valves, but thats to advanced for me, not even gunna try.