“A forced evolution of the traditional work-life-balance.” Developed by candlelight during the blackouts, with generators as a soundtrack and air-raid sirens interrupting meetings — and set out in chapter 11 of Everything Will Be OK, “24 February 2022 — War-Life-Balance.”
“It was based on three fundamental pillars.” Here they are, in the book’s own words and examples.
“The ability to work always, regardless of external conditions.” Backup generators in every critical location; multiple internet connections — fiber, 4G, Starlink; alternative workspaces already identified and prepared; cloud systems with geographic redundancy. The rule was simple: “no single disruption could stop us completely.”
“Creating islands of normality in the chaos.” Birthdays celebrated even during air-raid sirens — at worst you go down into the bunker, and life goes on. BBQ and wine, lunch breaks together, the quiet coffee in the garden, talking about anything but war. And every morning at 9:00, the minute of silence that stops the entire country. “The war wanted to take away our humanity. We deliberately chose to keep it.”
“Seeing every obstacle as an opportunity for innovation.” Couriers stop operating? Find alternative partners through the diaspora. Blackouts? Automate in the cloud whatever can run on its own, work in shifts following the windows of electricity and, when necessary, build a fortress — as with BRAVE, its generators, the Starlink and the bunker. Customers doubt your reliability? Build verification and tracking systems that offer more transparency than any competitor.
Each pillar opens to four practices from the book, a story from chapter 11, and a next step.
Four moments from the book where the pillars stopped being theory: “It was the daily practice of survival and prosperity.”
Winter 2022–2023: many cities had electricity only four to eight hours a day. Volodymyr, a producer of technical fabrics, organised night shifts from four to eight in the morning and kept every job and every commitment. His foreign client, Lukas: “This isn’t a supply chain problem. It’s a demonstration of resilience that none of my suppliers in Europe could match.”
Explore insights →A backpack always ready with what you need to survive and work for at least a week: documents and encrypted copies, medicines, the full mobile office, clothes, cash in several currencies, food and water — and, in Alex’s case, the latest issue of Diabolik. As the team put it: “That comic is an anchor of normality.” What would you put in yours?
Explore insights →“And if today were the last day of our journey, would I do what I’m doing right now?” In war the question became a filter. In peacetime the book suggests a lighter dose: once a month, or every Sunday for five minutes — and always at moments of turning. “If the answer isn’t a ‘Hell Yes,’ it’s worth reconsidering.”
Explore insights →From Judith Rodin’s The Resilience Dividend: true resilience is not returning to how things were, but harnessing the shock to become better than before. On a Lviv rooftop in spring 2023, a friend’s message proposing Saturday coffee taught the rest: “What we considered ‘normal’ before the war was a privilege we took for granted.” Normality is a privilege.
Learn more →“War-life-balance wasn’t just a framework for surviving the war. It was an approach to life that works in any context of uncertainty and rapid change.” Start small: list your single points of failure, protect one ritual of normality, and turn one obstacle into an experiment. The full story is in Everything Will Be OK — eBook available now, official launch 13 October 2026.