First timer: What should I do from the start to make using Home Assistant better and easier?

[MaxK (Mark)]

Starting fresh - Show me what you wish you'd known when you started?

After a couple of power failures, some bulbs losing their config and HA not being available for a while I’m going to take the opportunity to start again, from a fresh, clean install of the latest and greatest version of Home Assistant. I have available to me: Zigbee lights Zigbee sockets WiFi plug sockets zwave sockets Zigbee door sensors z-wave PIRs Sonos Eufy doorbell. UK smart meter & Octopus energy Solar panels Zappi car charger ESPHome based alarm interface With that kind of thing in mi…