Disorder grows at the edges first.

Decline starts where nobody looks. The back of the cupboard, the spare room, the seldom-used process, the part of a relationship nobody discusses, all deteriorate first because attention concentrates on the middle. By the time it reaches the center, it has been developing at the periphery for a long time. Edges are the early warning.

Once in a while, inspect the parts of your life or work that nothing forces you to look at. That is where the earliest signals are. Attending to the edges is how you avoid dealing with the center.