There is a TED Talk about planning for stress before it arrives. The term for this is pre-mortem, as contrasted with post-mortem. In the later case, a fatal condition is examined after the fact. In the former, plans are put in place before disaster strikes. 

The story the speaker tells is about being locked out of his house when the temperature was negative forty. He had to get in, and smashed a basement window to accomplish it. Later he installed a key box with a combination he could easily remember, to prevent it happening again. 

His premise was that people do not think clearly when they are in an emergency, as in afraid of freezing to death. This is why schools routinely practice their response to a fire. 

One of the ways couples can install a strategy for problems before they arise is to have an ongoing relationship with a mentor couple. Trying to establish one after trouble erupts is like changing a bike tire while you are riding it.

Another tactic is to create a covenant marriage.  This is an agreement that tightens the commitment, and narrows the conditions for divorce. When you are contemplating the dissolution of your marriage, your higher thinking is probably compromised. Having a back up plan before you are stressed is prudent. No one anticipates upheaval of their marriage on their wedding day, any more than a family moving into a new home expects a house fire. 

I remember a conversation I had when my first child was a baby. There was a raffle, and one of the prizes was a set of sippy cups. I had one last ticket and the person behind the table suggested I try for the cups.

"My baby is completely breastfed. I don't need one." I said with some smugness. 

True. But drinking out of cups was in my future. I could have had it in the cupboard ready to pull out when the time came. Wouldn't that have been clever.