I’m still learning this too, but what’s helped me is thinking about structure before touching any charts. I try to be clear on who the report is for and what one thing they should take away.

I usually start rough, messy notes, basic tables, and then clean it up step by step. If I can explain the report in a few sentences to someone else, it usually means the structure is okay. Clarity for me comes more from simplifying than adding more detail.