Popularized by Pragmatic Programmer, this is a common piece of advice to guard against technical debt.
What to do about it
Boy Scout rule
As Martin Fowler & many have taught me, follow the boy scout rule
Make refactoring a part of your normal day to day workflow. Leave something cleaner than you found it, even if it’s just a little bit
Be pedantic about your quality bar
to rely solely on planned refactoring is suboptimal. probably even detrimental
Related reading
I have more notes on refactoring musings & strategies. Would highly recommend.
What is the broken window fallacy: