How should I approach translating a complex sentence?

It is tempting when presented with a long complex sentence to feel overwhelmed. However by breaking the sentence into smaller clauses it makes the translation more approachable.
Having broken the sentence down into clauses then sort the words into nouns, verbs and any pronouns or adjectives. Identify the subject and then the object of the sentence. Next - the verb - what tense is the verb in? Identify the adjectives and link them to the nouns they are describing. This requires rope learning of the declensions.
Finally put it together, if it doesn't make sense shuffle the phrase about so it reads smoothly in English.