Use the online map, to plan the sequence you'll walk all the paths in your parish (the magnifying glass next to each Right of Way opens a Parish map and zooms to that Right of Way
You can navigate to a Parish map from here: https://osm.mathmos.net/prow-survey/essex/ (click on your District, then your Parish)
if you want more details, you can see the 'definitive' map of all Essex PROWS on the Essex Highways map (click on the three bar hamburger menu and choose 'Assets - Public Rights of Way' then lots of zooming required)
In preparation for surveying, you should take:
a map showing Rights of Way (Ordnance Survey, or a printout if your Parish map (optionally, mark your route with a highlighter)
pen and paper, for making notes
ideally, a smartphone for recording images
When you find an issue, it will be helpful if, when you report it to your Highways Authority (Essex Highways for most Adopters), you will provide some images, so that local PRoW Inspectors can take decisions without needing to visit the site - after all, as an Adopter, you just did. So, if you have a smartphone, taking it with you to record images of issues is a really good idea.
Note: if you are reading this on your smartphone, it's a good idea to save a shortcut to this site on your smartphone's home screen. To do that, click the three dots at the top right of the page, and select the option 'Add to Home' (or similar).
And, if you have your smartphone with you, you can also:
access the electronic map of the Parish you are walking (open your District's spreadsheet from the 10,000 PRoWs page)
check rules about PRoWs (here on the Advanced Guide page)
and even directly report the issue to Essex Highways from where you find it
Then:
walk that day's paths
for each path, think of a summary description - make a written note if you need to
if you come across an issue (problem, fault), make a note of its location, if you can, take two, three or four images, and summarise what you found
Smartphone Tip: many people use voice typing to record what they found and the date they found it. On Android its Settings/System/Languages/Keyboard/Use voice typing.
Now go to Reporting Findings page to find out how to upload photos and record your findings.