Well, you certainly can't do much after the crisis has passed if you don't survive it. But upon further thought I realized that my response might've been a tad too flip. I mean, you don't want to live your whole life in survival mode. At least I don't want to. Not if I can avoid it, anyway.
Because I'm posting in a forum that's literally dedicated to a particular life management system, I'm pretty sure the thought that what people need is a way to get back in control at the first available opportunity isn't gonna strike anyone as particularly brilliant. I'm fairly sure pretty much everyone reading this thread has already thought of that.
I'll just say that when
@ivanjay205 asks about whether anyone has "special tricks" for managing times when life gets out of control, sometimes my "special trick" is not looking for special tricks. There are times when things get so out of control you can't do anything other than put out fires.
I remember when my wife got so ill with a gastrointestinal bug I had to call my employer to let them know I wasn't coming in. I planned to take her to the hospital, only to realize things had gotten bad enough I had to call an ambulance. While the paramedics were preparing to transport her she had a seizure. Fortunately it was not serious; sometimes dehydration can cause seizures and she had sure as hell become dehydrated. Anyway, soon after I had taken her home from the hospital I started feeling a little off. I ended up catching what she did. It was a bad scene.
My point is, I'm not sure I could've done much of a "post mortem" on this one. What was there to tweak? Should I have told my wife the stomach bug was fine but the seizure was taking things a bit too far? Should I have made a note for future reference that the next time I got a bug like this I could try throwing up fewer times?
I realize I'm being ridiculous and no one is suggesting such things. I'm just saying I think it's tempting when practicing GTD to think that there's no aspect of life that we shouldn't analyze for possible tweaks and improvements. As I've gotten older I've come to realize there are times when things go off the rails in ways you can't plan or prepare for.
I think as long as you have a means for getting back in control as soon as you're able, there's no sense in worrying about "coulda, shoulda, woulda" when you're hit with things you couldn't have realistically expected. Heck, even if it's something you maybe could've anticipated, or maybe you dropped the ball somewhat during the crisis, it's worth remembering that none of us are perfect. Even if you can tweak your system so that you don't make a particular mistake again (and I'm learning as I get older that it's foolish to think we can ever inoculate ourselves against making the same mistake again -- it happens to the best of us), you're just really clearing the deck to make new mistakes.
So I guess this is a roundabout way of saying that whether it's GTD or something else, you just need a way to pick up the pieces after the crisis and move forward.
And yes, I realize this forum is about GTD and not "something else." I guess as I explore my life I'm no longer 100% sure whether my path should include GTD or "something else." If it is "something else," I can assure people I won't be continuing to post here as an anti-GTD troll. Just as it doesn't make sense to go to a forum of NFL fans to tell them "football sucks," it wouldn't make sense to continue participating in a GTD forum just to tell everyone they should do something else. Just 'cause something isn't right for me doesn't mean it isn't right for someone.