method

Conclusion: Keep a record you can be wrong in

The log is the instrument. Write down what you changed and why, including the changes you reverted — the why is what makes an old decision re-examinable rather than merely visible. State a finding only once it has appeared twice; one instance is a hypothesis and should be labelled as one.

Two habits worth stealing. Mark every claim measured or reasoned as you write it, not afterwards — which of the two it was is the first thing you lose. And when you cannot verify something, record that you could not — "I could not verify this" and "this is not verifiable" are different findings, and quietly converting the first into the second is the more damaging direction.