Work on the most neglected area first -- e.g., work on the most neglected outdoor area of a property first.
I don't recall his specific reasoning, but in my mind the essence was: Otherwise you will be acting on displacement anxiety and When an eyesore is taken care of first, your perspective on potential other improvements will change.
RIP
> If we always build on that part of the land which is most healthy, we can be virtually certain that a great deal of the land will always be less than healthy. If we want the land to be healthy all over - all of it - then we must do the opposite. We must treat every new act of building as an opportunity to mend some rent in the existing cloth; each act of building gives us the chance to make one of the ugliest and least healthy parts of the environment more healthy - as for those parts which are already healthy and beautiful - they of course need no attention. And in fact, we must discipline ourselves most strictly to leave them alone,so that our energy actually goes to the places which need it. This is the principle of site repair.
As a heuristic (extending possibly to so-called technical debt?) I believe it generalizes.
I am lately learning the delight of another pattern: Outdoor Workshop.
This is one of those rare delights; an approach which is as powerful as it is simple.
But I recommend owning and reading it in print. Great book to dip in and out of at whim.