Hi Cayden and Welcome to the forum,
I have found that making a habit of doing reality checks throughout the day is one of the most ineffective techniques to achieve lucidity and in most cases it even destroys the individual’s (in this case, you) interest in lucid dreaming itself.
It will fail for the same reason almost all major lifestyle changes fail.
But don’t be discouraged - there are easier ways to become lucid that are more effective and takes less effort to achieve.
There is an entire section that is dedicated to helping people become lucid,
Quest for Lucidity
I would also recommend looking at Frequently Asked Questions and Tutorials
And Link to all known techniques to get you lucid
More specifically, since it looks like your dream recall is on par, I would recommend the WBTB and MILD techniques. I personally wake up for 10 short minutes after I have slept for 4 and a half hours. I do this every single night. Studies show that this increases the amount of REM sleep you get in a single night, in turn increasing your chances of a lucid dream.
Hope this helped 
p.s. I personally NEVER use reality checks, whether it be in real life or in a dream, unless it is to increase my lucidity AFTER becoming lucid. In contrast, reality checks really helped me out when I first started practicing lucid dreaming about one year ago, but it has never been the cause of me becoming lucid.
Use a reality check when you are in a dream and you suspect that it might be a dream, even if it is the slightest suspicion.