Anuvver useful pre-flight thing:-
Take your calculated g/s from your PLOG, let's say it's 95 kt. Mark off tenths of this along your intended track (in this example make a mark every 9.5 n.m). It will take you six minutes between the marks so, knowing the time you started it's easy to work out where you ought to be now and look for landmarks.
Make sure that early on you work out whether you are being drifted to right or left and apply a small correction to your heading, if you're being drifted left add a few degrees, or subtract a few if drifting right.
What you don't want to do is make a large alteration to regain track. For example you expect to pass one mile to the left of a landmark. When you identify it it's four miles in your 3 o'clock. Turning 90 degrees to regain your track will disorientate you and slow you down. Knowing the distance to your destination/turning point you can use the 1 in 60 rule. Your error is 3 miles so if your destination/turning point is 30 miles away you need to alter by 6 degrees (twice as much as if it were 60 miles away) if it's 15 miles to run you need 12 degrees and it's easy enough to guess for something in between.
It's also easy enough to mapread, by the time you're halfway your error should have halved.
Another useful technique
If you are on-track (which you WILL be at your departure point) and you can see a landmark ahead of you that is also on track, pick something that is directly between you and it. Could be a wood, a distinctive field, anything fixed, and keep it lined up with your landmark. If it starts to drift out of alignment adjust your heading to bring it back. When it's stable and not drifting right or left you are flying directly along your intended track. Check your heading and compare it with your PLOG to see whether the forecast and your calculations are accurate.
Mike