Although not at the dizzy heights of having an IR, I have recently qualified for an IMC rating.
I would thoroughly endorse the comments re RANT XL. It is a fantastic package, and saved me at least 5 hours flying time (according to my Instructor).
He had this fantastic tip, which I use for the ADF....
When flying towards the beacon... "If the needle head is RIGHT of where you want it.... turn RIGHT so that the needle head is on the LEFT..." then ask yourself, can the head of the needle FALL down to the bearing you want? If it can't, then you might have turned the wrong way! (Obviously, all this works in reverse too.... Needle head is LEFT of where you want it, turn LEFT so the needle head is on the RIGHT... etc etc)
When flying away from the beacon, the above is simply reversed...
"if the tail of the needle is RIGHT of where you want it.... turn LEFT!" then ask yourself, can the tail of the needle RISE up to the bearing you want?
It works brilliantly for me....