totally new to Laravel, what's first step for eloquent optimization?

hi everyone, i was just reading that super intense thread about n+1 queries and it kinda freaked me out a bit. i'm super new to laravel, like, just started building my first little app, a simple task manager for myself. i'm trying to learn things the right way from the beginning so i don't end up with those big performance issues later on.

i've seen the term "eloquent optimization" thrown around, and it sounds really important, especially after reading about N+1 problems. but honestly, i have no clue where to even begin with it. it feels like a really big topic and most articles assume you already know a lot about general database and laravel query optimization techniques.

i haven't really tried anything specific yet because i don't even know what to try. i'm just at the stage where i'm making models and relationships, and i'm scared i'm already setting myself up for trouble without realizing it. i'm trying to avoid just adding `->with()` everywhere if i don't fully understand what it's doing or if there are better ways.

so, for someone who's a complete beginner with eloquent and laravel, what are the absolute first, most fundamental steps or concepts i should grasp for efficient eloquent usage? are there any simple "golden rules" for writing database queries with eloquent that can prevent common pitfalls? also, are there any super easy-to-use tools or packages that can help a noob like me spot potential performance issues early on, before they become a huge problem with my laravel query optimization efforts?

i'm really eager to learn this properly, so any guidance on how to approach eloquent optimization from scratch would be immensely helpful. really hoping an expert can chime in and give me some beginner-friendly advice!