Probably one should have a canary system that is rebooted every day. In a home setup we usually don't hand either the spare machine or the spare time to deal with it, or both.
The easiest way is to reboot after updates. Most updates are not urgent so unless you are having some problem that you hope the update will address wait until a time when it is OK to reboot. Then install the update and reboot.
If there is an urgent update that you need to apply at a time when rebooting would be an issue apply the update and leave yourself a reminder that the system is running a configure that you don't know is bootable. When a reasonable time for a reboot comes around take it.
Me personally, I always reboot after every update. I'd rather deal with the break now while I'm working on it, rather than at some random point. Then I'll know exactly what changed.
I take it a step further. I usually reboot before updates, too. Make sure I won't chase updates as an issue if something else broke.
Probably one should have a canary system that is rebooted every day. In a home setup we usually don't hand either the spare machine or the spare time to deal with it, or both.