To get the most out of your distributed SQL database, design schemas that distribute data evenly across ranges to impact performance and scalability. Use partial indexes to ensure only data being filtered for is indexed, create composite indexes for multi-column filtering and sorting, and monitor index usage and prune redundant or unused indexes regularly. Embrace transaction retries gracefully by using built-in retry logic in client libraries, reducing transaction time, and preemptively locking rows with `SELECT FOR UPDATE`. Understand how queries are executed to optimize them by using `EXPLAIN ANALYZE (DISTSQL)`, identifying expensive operations, and optimizing joins. Minimize latency with multi-region optimization by pinning data to a user's region, setting survival goals based on availability needs, and using super regions for data sovereignty and compliance. Automate backups and disaster recovery by distributing backups across regions or clouds, testing restore workflows regularly, and validating RTO/RPO assumptions. Finally, keep your cluster healthy by ensuring even load distribution, planning ahead, monitoring range distribution, and prioritizing important workloads during spikes.