SharePoint Designer 2013 Workflows: Best Practices to follow

Rules to follow while working on SharePoint Designer workflows. It can prevent you to recreate the workflow from scratch once the workflow became corrupt.
(Can also refer 'http://blog.eastridge.net/sharepoint-designer-2013-worklows-copy-paste-and-delete-best-practices')

• Never delete a stage before deleting all actions and conditions within that stage first.
• Never delete a stage if another stage is transitioning to it. Make sure to modify the transition portion of the other stage first.
• Never copy and paste a stage. Create the stage manually and then copy and paste the actions into the new stage.
• Never delete an "IF" or "ELSE" without first deleting all the actions in the condition first.
• Never copy and paste an "IF" or "ELSE" block. Create the "IF" and "ELSE" conditions manually and then copy and paste the actions into the condition.
• Take backups of your workflow often using the "Save as Template" feature described here, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj819316(v=office.15).aspx. This will allow you to rule back to the last backup if your workflow did get corrupted.