A method for treating objects, in particular cytological or histological specimens, for example in an automatic stainer, the objects being delivered, preferably on object carriers and in object carrier magazines, by means of a transport device to various processing stations, inserted therein, and treated in accordance with a definable treatment program, and the transport device being capable, during the treatment, of moving further objects or object carriers to other processing stations so that a parallel processing or treatment is possible in various processing stations, is characterized by an optimized automatic program sequence according to which identically operating processing stations are defined as backup stations and are correspondingly occupied if a concretely required processing station is occupied.