I’m the same way man, and honestly, this hobby kind of requires that kind of methodolgy. Don’t get it twisted, I still commit plenty of fuck ups (as you’ll see) and have quite a lot more to learn.
I’ve just hit my head enough times to know when to duck.
As for excel, I tried keeping track of my last reproduction with it. Here’s how it looked:
I’ve since gone back to taking written notes. It’s just quicker for me.