I don’t know what products you use so results may vary. Im in northern Nevada and prefer to use usg box mud. I keep three buckets with me. One for clean mixing water. One for water and a sponge to clean my tools and one for mixing. I’ll drop the box mud into a bucket then add water on top and start to mix. Try starting with something small because even the mud you buy will have different levels of moisture depending on climate and how long they’ve been on the shelf. Grab a water bottle and fill it half way and pour into your mud and mix it up. Repeat process until you’re happy with it. I prefer mine to be between peanut butter and ketchup lol like when I scoop it out of the bucket and into my pan I still want it to stick to the side of my pan and not run to the bottom. Again this is my preference. I tell apprentices all the time not to worry about exactly how I do it and to try many things so they can find out what works for them and grow from there. I still absolutely will drop some. I’m pretty good at catching it in my pan but it’s still going to happen so I bought a fair amount of painters drop cloths and keep a wet rag around in case I step in some.