The First 72 Hours After Collapse: What to Do and What Not to Do

Standing on the ledge. This is the part nobody glamorizes: the first three days after something breaks and your old system stops working. Not “apocalypse.” Not “the end.” Just that moment where the floor drops out: job, contract, money, relationship, health, reputation, routine… and suddenly everything is louder than it should be.

So here’s my 72-hour field protocol: stabilize first, then make decisions like a person who can actually think.¹ Godspeed.

What I mean by “collapse” (so we don’t get weird about it)

Collapse is when your life loses its operating system. The routines don’t run. The assumptions don’t hold. Your nervous system starts doing smoke-alarm math. Everything feels urgent, and half of it isn’t.¹

In this window, you’re vulnerable to three traps:

• Scarcity tunnel vision: attention narrows, maintenance gets postponed, and small problems become expensive problems.⁴
• Cognitive overload: your brain tries to solve everything at once and ends up solving nothing.⁵
• Shame bookkeeping: you stop tracking what you did and start sentencing who you are.²

The operating principle

Inventory before identity. Evidence before vibes. Small fires instead of grand rebuilds.³⁵

Psychological first-aid models (in plain language) aim for: safety, calming, connectedness, self-efficacy, and hope. That’s not “therapy talk.” That’s the checklist for keeping a human functional in the first impact window.⁶⁷

0–6 hours: Stop the bleeding

In the first hours, your job is not “solve your life.” Your job is: prevent new damage.

DO

• Get physically stable: water, food, meds, heat, sleep opportunity. Treat your body like it’s part of the infrastructure.⁶
• Contain the blast radius: cancel non-essential commitments, pause optional spending, stop the “I should…” projects.
• Write a one-sentence incident log: what happened, when, and what changed. (Not the whole story. Just the facts.)
• Pick one “anchor ritual”: coffee + shower, walk + music, dishes + podcast. Something repeatable that says: “the day has a spine.”⁴
• Choose one small fire you can finish today: one drawer, one form, one call, one task you can close.⁵

DO NOT

• Don’t make irreversible decisions while escalated (quit, move, sell, torch relationships, “final emails”).
• Don’t negotiate your worth with your worst moment. That’s the Shame Ledger trying to run the meeting.²
• Don’t doomscroll yourself into paralysis. Information is not traction (especially in shock).

6–24 hours: Convert fog into facts

This is where I switch from “smoke alarm” to “clipboard.”

DO

• Run Money Triage (minimum viable version): identify what must stay alive first (housing, heat, utilities, food, transportation, critical payments).¹
• Make a single-page “Evidence Ledger”: list 5 receipts from the last 7 days (calls made, bills handled, tasks completed, boundaries held). Evidence destroys abstraction.²
• Build the Asset Map:
  • What’s left (skills, proof-of-work, tools, documents, routines)
  • What’s missing (contact hygiene, updated resume/portfolio, structured support)
  • What rebuilds first (one credibility artifact, one proof bundle, two reconnection messages)³
• Reduce friction on purpose: shrink the scale, add hooks/anchors, and turn anger into one boundary sentence.⁵
• Prepare for “basic continuity” needs: if your situation includes physical risk (weather, outages, relocation), start a simple supply list (water, light, first aid, hygiene, maps, etc.).⁸

DO NOT

• Don’t try to “optimize” while unstable. Stabilize first, optimize later.¹
• Don’t confuse calming with avoidance. Calm is a tool so you can stay functional.¹
• Don’t hand your self-worth to the imagined jury. That’s stigma logic, and it bites hardest right after role loss.²

24–48 hours: Contact beats dread

Now we do the part that reduces uncertainty: the calls.

DO

• Make the “must-contact” calls: landlord/lender, utilities, tax authority if behind, key suppliers, payroll-related issues (if applicable). Keep it scripted: one topic, one question, one next step.¹
• Send two network repair messages: short, clean, no apology tour. Reopen reachability.³
• Schedule a weekly numbers check-in: so money stops haunting you 24/7.¹
• Lock in one daily microprotocol: “after first coffee → two minutes grounding → write next step → complete one small fire.” Simple plans work because they reduce decision friction right when it spikes.⁵

DO NOT

• Don’t chase closure from people who already showed you they won’t listen. Turn it into a boundary sentence and move forward.⁵
• Don’t overshare the whole collapse story to random audiences. Save depth for trusted people.

48–72 hours: Build a runway (tiny, real, repeatable)

By day three, we’re not rebuilding the cathedral. We’re building the scaffolding.

DO

• Choose your “winter rules” for the week: less performance, more basics, more ritual, more rest, and one honest step forward.⁴
• Pick 3 priorities for the next 7 days:
  • one income move (application, outreach, portfolio update)
  • one stability move (numbers, paperwork, appointment, maintenance)
  • one body move (sleep, walk, food, meds)
• Keep the Evidence Ledger running: five receipts a day is enough to prevent the shame narrative from rewriting reality.²
• Keep inventory visible: assets on one page, gaps on one page, rebuild-first on one page.³

DO NOT

• Don’t demand spring behavior out of a winter body. Conservation isn’t failure; it’s strategy.⁴
• Don’t turn the first 72 hours into a character trial. Collapse is an event. It is not your identity.²

Quick 72-hour checklist (print this in your brain)

• Safety + basics: water, food, meds, heat, sleep opportunity.⁶
• Stabilize: protect essentials first (housing, utilities, food, transportation).¹
• Evidence: 5 receipts, minimum.²
• Inventory: what’s left / what’s missing / what rebuilds first.³
• Friction reduction: one small fire, one boundary sentence, one hook/anchor.⁵
• Contact: one must-call, two network messages.¹
• Winter rules: rest without rotting, one honest step forward.⁴

Still on the ledge. Still watching. Still working the rubble. Godspeed.

Footnotes (APA)

1. Sulian, L. (2026, January 16). How to manage money crisis: A practical triage guide. Standing on the Ledge. https://standingontheledge.com/2026/01/16/how-to-manage-money-crisis-a-practical-triage-guide/ ↩
2. Sulian, L. (2026, January 13). Transforming shame: The evidence ledger approach. Standing on the Ledge. https://standingontheledge.com/2026/01/13/transforming-shame-the-evidence-ledger-approach/ ↩
3. Sulian, L. (2026, January 11). Inventory before identity: A guide to rebuilding confidence. Standing on the Ledge. https://standingontheledge.com/2026/01/11/inventory-before-identity-a-guide-to-rebuilding-confidence/ ↩
4. Sulian, L. (2026, January 9). Winter survival strategies: Embrace the season of rest. Standing on the Ledge. https://standingontheledge.com/2026/01/09/winter-survival-strategies-embrace-the-season-of-rest/ ↩
5. Sulian, L. (2026, January 12). Three effective strategies to manage life’s friction. Standing on the Ledge. https://standingontheledge.com/2026/01/12/three-effective-strategies-to-manage-lifes-friction/ ↩
6. National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (n.d.). Psychological first aid for schools (PFA-S): Field operations guide. Retrieved January 19, 2026, from https://www.nctsn.org/resources/psychological-first-aid-schools-pfa-s-field-operations-guide ↩
7. Wang, M., & Moore, A. (n.d.). Student perspectives: Psychological first aid (adapted approach). International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Retrieved January 19, 2026, from https://istss.org/student-perspectives-psychological-first-aid-an-adapted-approach-for-managing-the-mental-health-of-health-care-workers-during-covid-19-by-maggie-wang-and-alexis-moore/ ↩
8. City of San José. (n.d.). Emergency supply kit. Retrieved January 19, 2026, from https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/fire-department/public-education/wildfire-preparedness/emergency-supply-kit ↩