All this pushing, pulling and shoving sounds awfully rude chaps - and confusing to the stude.
The only time when this is critical is turning inbound to the hold or the final approach, at other times you've got time to think. The key is to keep asking yourself "what QDM/R am I on and what do I want?".
1. Forget the ADF card (or set it to 360)
2. Overlay the ADF needle onto the DI
3. If you're going away from the beacon read QDR from the tail, if it is less than you want - turn right
4. If you're going towards the beacon read QDM from the head, if it is less than you want - turn left.
5. The amount to turn depends on distance from the beacon, how fast you want to get onto a QDM/R and what the wind is doing.
6. Keep overlaying the needle onto the DI and asking yourself "what's my QDM/R and what do I want?", when the QDM/R is what you want turn onto it and allow for drift.