JA Westenberg
@joanwestenberg.com
Half the emails I get about my YouTube channel: "Love that your channel has no intro, no CTAs, no editing - please never change"
The other half: "I noticed your channel has no intro, no CTAs, no editing - our agency can fix this for $2,000/month"
The other half: "I noticed your channel has no intro, no CTAs, no editing - our agency can fix this for $2,000/month"
November 25, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Half the emails I get about my YouTube channel: "Love that your channel has no intro, no CTAs, no editing - please never change"
The other half: "I noticed your channel has no intro, no CTAs, no editing - our agency can fix this for $2,000/month"
The other half: "I noticed your channel has no intro, no CTAs, no editing - our agency can fix this for $2,000/month"
The best Black Flag record is Who’s Got the 10 1/2? and it’s not even close.
November 25, 2025 at 6:56 AM
The best Black Flag record is Who’s Got the 10 1/2? and it’s not even close.
Drug development costs $1-3 billion and takes 10-15 years to prove a drug is safe // effective, then 30% of Americans immediately decide it's poison because a guy in Macedonia pretending to be from Massachusetts said so on X...
November 25, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Drug development costs $1-3 billion and takes 10-15 years to prove a drug is safe // effective, then 30% of Americans immediately decide it's poison because a guy in Macedonia pretending to be from Massachusetts said so on X...
The fact that you need elaborate behavioral interventions to use your phone productively suggests the phone isn't actually a productivity tool.
It's an attention-extraction device with productivity features that are antithetical to its entire purpose.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P25...
It's an attention-extraction device with productivity features that are antithetical to its entire purpose.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P25...
Why Your Phone Sucks at Productivity
The productivity industry treats the phone as a neutral platform that just needs better software. But what if the hardware itself is poorly suited for most k...
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:26 AM
The fact that you need elaborate behavioral interventions to use your phone productively suggests the phone isn't actually a productivity tool.
It's an attention-extraction device with productivity features that are antithetical to its entire purpose.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P25...
It's an attention-extraction device with productivity features that are antithetical to its entire purpose.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P25...
Keeping all your options open sounds smart until you realize the person with infinite optionality often does nothing memorable with it.
Meanwhile someone who commits to one thing goes deep.
Different costs, different returns.
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/every-dec...
Meanwhile someone who commits to one thing goes deep.
Different costs, different returns.
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/every-dec...
Every Decision Has Three Costs: Time, Focus, and Optionality
Why Decisions Are More Expensive Than You Think
www.joanwestenberg.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Keeping all your options open sounds smart until you realize the person with infinite optionality often does nothing memorable with it.
Meanwhile someone who commits to one thing goes deep.
Different costs, different returns.
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/every-dec...
Meanwhile someone who commits to one thing goes deep.
Different costs, different returns.
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/every-dec...
The QWERTY keyboard was designed to reduce mechanical jamming in early typewriters.
We kept it for computers. Which don't jam.
How many of our systems are just preserved solutions to problems that no longer exist?
And how would we even know?
We kept it for computers. Which don't jam.
How many of our systems are just preserved solutions to problems that no longer exist?
And how would we even know?
November 24, 2025 at 7:09 PM
The QWERTY keyboard was designed to reduce mechanical jamming in early typewriters.
We kept it for computers. Which don't jam.
How many of our systems are just preserved solutions to problems that no longer exist?
And how would we even know?
We kept it for computers. Which don't jam.
How many of our systems are just preserved solutions to problems that no longer exist?
And how would we even know?
In every dystopian novel: the government bans books.
In reality: we gave up reading voluntarily.
In reality: we gave up reading voluntarily.
November 24, 2025 at 11:14 AM
In every dystopian novel: the government bans books.
In reality: we gave up reading voluntarily.
In reality: we gave up reading voluntarily.
Information wants to be free. Humans want to be confidently incorrect in groups.
November 24, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Information wants to be free. Humans want to be confidently incorrect in groups.
When the code bot says "I see the issue now" I cannot emphasise enough how much it has not and will not see the issue now or at any point in the future, in any future, in any universe, across all space and time
November 24, 2025 at 5:07 AM
When the code bot says "I see the issue now" I cannot emphasise enough how much it has not and will not see the issue now or at any point in the future, in any future, in any universe, across all space and time
The funniest thing about "digital nomads" is they all end up in the exact same 5 cities doing the exact same remote work they could do anywhere, but now they're doing it in a coworking space in Bali
"work from anywhere" = "work from places other digital nomads have already approved on Instagram"
"work from anywhere" = "work from places other digital nomads have already approved on Instagram"
November 23, 2025 at 11:19 PM
The funniest thing about "digital nomads" is they all end up in the exact same 5 cities doing the exact same remote work they could do anywhere, but now they're doing it in a coworking space in Bali
"work from anywhere" = "work from places other digital nomads have already approved on Instagram"
"work from anywhere" = "work from places other digital nomads have already approved on Instagram"
Everyone talks about "hustle culture" vs "quiet quitting" but nobody mentions the third option which is what like 80% of knowledge workers actually do: appearing frantically busy while accomplishing approximately one good hour of work per day, spread across 47 browser tabs and 6 Slack channels
November 23, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Everyone talks about "hustle culture" vs "quiet quitting" but nobody mentions the third option which is what like 80% of knowledge workers actually do: appearing frantically busy while accomplishing approximately one good hour of work per day, spread across 47 browser tabs and 6 Slack channels
The people preaching 'move fast and break things' are the same folks whose entire economic livelihood depends on the system moving very, very slowly and protecting their accumulated equity and I just think that’s beautiful (stupid)
November 20, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The people preaching 'move fast and break things' are the same folks whose entire economic livelihood depends on the system moving very, very slowly and protecting their accumulated equity and I just think that’s beautiful (stupid)
The biggest insight into human nature I've gained from social media is that 90% of arguments are just elaborate ways for people to say, 'I'm not like those other people.'
November 20, 2025 at 8:06 PM
The biggest insight into human nature I've gained from social media is that 90% of arguments are just elaborate ways for people to say, 'I'm not like those other people.'
If a psychological study has a catchy name like "The Marshmallow Test" or "Power Posing," the probability of it replicating is inversely proportional to the number of TED Talks given about it.
November 20, 2025 at 6:05 AM
If a psychological study has a catchy name like "The Marshmallow Test" or "Power Posing," the probability of it replicating is inversely proportional to the number of TED Talks given about it.
Just a quick tip for those trying to get ahead: the key is to constantly look directly into the sun for short bursts. this blinds you to the failures of the present and allows you to walk straight toward an imagined, better future. it works, trust me.
November 20, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Just a quick tip for those trying to get ahead: the key is to constantly look directly into the sun for short bursts. this blinds you to the failures of the present and allows you to walk straight toward an imagined, better future. it works, trust me.
Your 80 year old self would give anything to have the day you're having.
Some days genuinely suck.
Some problems really matter.
But most days contain at least a few elements that future you would miss.
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/your-80-y...
Some days genuinely suck.
Some problems really matter.
But most days contain at least a few elements that future you would miss.
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/your-80-y...
Your 80 Year Old Self Would Give Anything to Have the Day You're Having.
Before the Baseline Breaks
www.joanwestenberg.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Your 80 year old self would give anything to have the day you're having.
Some days genuinely suck.
Some problems really matter.
But most days contain at least a few elements that future you would miss.
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/your-80-y...
Some days genuinely suck.
Some problems really matter.
But most days contain at least a few elements that future you would miss.
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/your-80-y...
I know exactly why my life is going wrong. it is because i keep going to the grocery store and buying "Food" then bringing it home and eating it. this is the cycle i must break, but the store keeps making more "Food"
November 19, 2025 at 8:47 PM
I know exactly why my life is going wrong. it is because i keep going to the grocery store and buying "Food" then bringing it home and eating it. this is the cycle i must break, but the store keeps making more "Food"
I see a lot of people saying "We need to have a serious conversation about this." This means they want to spend 4 hours arguing about it, then all agree that absolutely nothing can or will be done about it. This is optimal.
November 19, 2025 at 12:26 PM
I see a lot of people saying "We need to have a serious conversation about this." This means they want to spend 4 hours arguing about it, then all agree that absolutely nothing can or will be done about it. This is optimal.
I've been writing a weekly essay for a while now. Tech, culture, the stuff that keeps me up at night.
People seem to like it.
It's free to subscribe:
www.joanwestenberg.com
People seem to like it.
It's free to subscribe:
www.joanwestenberg.com
Westenberg.
Where Builders Come to Think.
www.joanwestenberg.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:11 AM
I've been writing a weekly essay for a while now. Tech, culture, the stuff that keeps me up at night.
People seem to like it.
It's free to subscribe:
www.joanwestenberg.com
People seem to like it.
It's free to subscribe:
www.joanwestenberg.com
Most people don’t make bad decisions.
They make good bets that lose, then rewrite history to protect their ego...
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/life-isn-...
They make good bets that lose, then rewrite history to protect their ego...
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/life-isn-...
November 18, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Most people don’t make bad decisions.
They make good bets that lose, then rewrite history to protect their ego...
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/life-isn-...
They make good bets that lose, then rewrite history to protect their ego...
www.joanwestenberg.com/p/life-isn-...
Look, I love this app, but I'd love it a whole lot more if the icon didn't look like xenomorph bussy
November 17, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Look, I love this app, but I'd love it a whole lot more if the icon didn't look like xenomorph bussy
A good decision that leads to a bad outcome gets reclassified in our memory as a bad decision.
A terrible decision that happens to work out becomes evidence of brilliant judgment...
youtu.be/qQ63GBdm_Q8
A terrible decision that happens to work out becomes evidence of brilliant judgment...
youtu.be/qQ63GBdm_Q8
The Power of Thinking in Bets
We conflate the quality of our decisions with the quality of their outcomes so automatically that we rarely notice we're doing it. A good decision that leads...
www.youtube.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:06 PM
A good decision that leads to a bad outcome gets reclassified in our memory as a bad decision.
A terrible decision that happens to work out becomes evidence of brilliant judgment...
youtu.be/qQ63GBdm_Q8
A terrible decision that happens to work out becomes evidence of brilliant judgment...
youtu.be/qQ63GBdm_Q8
"Am I the only person who..." yes, you are the sole human being across all of history and geography and space and time to ever experience this incredibly mundane thing, you should call the Smithsonian
November 16, 2025 at 12:21 AM
"Am I the only person who..." yes, you are the sole human being across all of history and geography and space and time to ever experience this incredibly mundane thing, you should call the Smithsonian
Personal Business | Are.na Editorial
“Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.”
www.are.na
November 15, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Every week, I try to make sense of how we build, create, and connect.
If you're looking for thoughtful writing about technology, culture, and what it means to do meaningful work, I'd love to have you as a reader.
www.joanwestenberg.com
If you're looking for thoughtful writing about technology, culture, and what it means to do meaningful work, I'd love to have you as a reader.
www.joanwestenberg.com
Westenberg.
Where Builders Come to Think.
www.joanwestenberg.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Every week, I try to make sense of how we build, create, and connect.
If you're looking for thoughtful writing about technology, culture, and what it means to do meaningful work, I'd love to have you as a reader.
www.joanwestenberg.com
If you're looking for thoughtful writing about technology, culture, and what it means to do meaningful work, I'd love to have you as a reader.
www.joanwestenberg.com