Attempting lucid dream reduces dream recall?

Hi Folks,
This is an interest I've toyed with a few times over the years but never really put the effort in before. I'm making a concentrated effort this year and have been keeping a journal diligently for a close to a month. I've found my dream recall to be much better then I had expected or hoped. Typically recalling around 3 dreams/night and have had 0 nights without at least one. I've promised myself to write at least something in the journal every time I wake and I find that I wake naturally in the night a number of times. Granted sometimes I've only got a brief glimpse but at least something.

There has been a notable problem though - Any time I make any effort to actually attempt a lucid dream I find that I remember nothing. After doing some reading, I've tried 3 different techniques. MILD, SSILD and recently I forgot what he called it but some sort of counting with affirmation when going back to sleep from the LaBerge book. I've tried each of those a few times.

Usually it goes
1 wake up naturally sometime late in the night. I would already have at least 1 dream recorded for that night.
2 a few minutes journaling or whatnot. I've tried fully getting out of bed and spending ~20 minutes doing something and just staying in bed.
3 decide if I'm trying any of the techniques. I'm only doing something ~25% of the time.
4 go back to bed
5 sleep another 1-2hours
6 wake naturally again

Conspicuously if I chose to try something in step 3 I will recall nothing. It's been a few weeks of attempts and it's frustrating me there. In the last week of my journal, the only entries which are noting a lack of recall, and outside the first ~2hours of sleep, are after trying something. This has been 5 times in the last week. If I had passed on doing anything abnormal in step 3 I expect I would have a normal dream and record it as such (at least a sentence or a general theme).

I could accept failure but a lack of any memory is getting to me. I'm looking for some input on if I'm doing something poorly or if I should try something else.

It can help to jot down some quick notes about your recalled dreams before launching in to a technique. It may take some time to adapt to a change in routine. I myself am just starting an active MILD practice, and definitely it's different compared to just doing recall -- like just last night, I recalled a scene while in the middle of MILD. Just give it time. I tend to think in the beginning for a new practitioner, focusing more strongly on recall at every waking (training yourself not to move upon waking and having the first thing you do be to reach and reach for those dream memories) is more beneficial. But yes, absolutely do work in some techniques over time. I'd start with recall, jot down some notes or make voice notes with a recorder or app, THEN do the technique and fall asleep, this way you should preserve your recall.

I guess I should post an update.

The pattern did not completely hold since then. I've had some recall on periods where I attempted something and some missing spots where I did not.

Interestingly I had a few times where I was laying in bed clearly remembering writing a dream down in my notebook and only later realizing that was in the dream. There was nothing in the notebook when I checked which was also too late to really recall much. I'll need to add a reality check to note time. I suspect the extra focus on dreams at those times correlates with that effect. Or also likely that I was just groggy and pissed that it didn't work and didn't put effort into the notes.

I also has 1 lucid dream since then (2nd one ever, first one in the last few years). Most obvious dream sign ever of a 2nd 'me' appearing to directly inform me that this was a dream. That same effect was in an earlier dream in the notebook but dream me was not able to convince me last time. No special effort was put in that time.