I work as an electrician but have done several drywall jobs. thin coats are better than thick, use wide knives 12" for butt joints 6-8" for corners. I only sand once at the end (maybe a little spot sanding in between) but after each coat scrape any ridges and high spots with a dry knife. This makes much less dust.

As TheLaw said more thin coats is ultimately better in the end.

Ah yes loosing small parts... A client of mine has a large second garage where he keeps a few classic cars. He has a black and white checkered tile floor and old gas station paraphernalia. It looks really classy