How to record research progress?

Question

Work organization

Good afternoon. I don't know where else to ask this question, so I'll ask here. I have tasks of the R&D class, when there is no clear solution to the problem, I have to try many solutions. Some of them are dead ends, some are long. In order not to lose the thread, not to get confused, I want to develop a template for describing all my actions. What I tried, what I stumbled on, what forks I found, and so on. So that later, reading this, one could find holes in reasoning and experiments, and generally restore the train of thought. According to my feelings, this is very similar to pure science, but I have never come into contact with it, so I don’t even know where and who to ask. Please advise where to dig.

Answer 1

Dig towards the laboratory journal. Here's an example .
Adapt for yourself.

Answer 2

I tried tello, mind maps and other special tools... I
also tried it on a piece of paper...
But in the end, for each project, I create a document on cloud.mail.ru,
and keep it in tables - usually in two columns.
For some reason, the table format helps me - just marking into rectangles, without any signatures.
So, first I create a PLAN table and there I write the steps that I think will have to be done.
An item that seems important to me and in order not to forget that I am doing it - I mark it with a gray background.
And the points that I have already done - I make the font gray.
And after the plan - I already create tables for the points of this plan.
If more than 10 pages accumulate - sometimes I create a second document.
So, I accumulate information on points in tables - this can be the course of an experiment, or notes in the course of studying some article, and I don’t go in circles.
Why cloud.mail.ru - well, it's just that word is normally supported by it and I like their direct folder display system. I also use Yandex, Google Drive and Dropbox for work, but I write documents in mail.ru

Answer 3

Try mind maps.
https://www.mindmup.com/ - first link in google

Answer 4

Learn to structure your thoughts so you don't have to memorize them.
If we are talking about the results of the study, for example, the execution time of the code, then it is most convenient to put a piece of paper in front of you and write down the time on it.
If we are talking about pure research, then write in the Word: goal, objectives, means / tools, methodology, intermediate results, calculations, final results, conclusions.