Justin Kownacki

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common sense

Stop doing this. You're not a sherpa.
Armchair Sociology

What I Learned When I Had to Move Apartments in a Hurry

Moving day headaches are no fun. Here are 4 tips you can start using NOW to make sure your next move goes smoothly, whether you’re relocating to a new city or just across the street.

By Justin, 5 yearsJanuary 29, 2018 ago
Armchair Sociology

Everyone Has the Same Tragic Flaw

Here’s why everyone else is doing better at life than you.

By Justin, 8 yearsAugust 19, 2015 ago
Armchair Sociology

The Meaning of Life According to Don Draper

Autonomy is a major theme on Mad Men. Who has more power to control your story and your life — is it you, or everyone else? For example, when the execs at ad agency Sterling Cooper learn their ad agency is about to be sold (again) at the end of Read more…

By Justin, 8 yearsMay 7, 2015 ago
Armchair Sociology

The Other Guy Didn’t Win; You Just Failed to Convince People

In politics, business, love and war, we’re tempted to reduce all conflicts to a winner and a loser. By doing this, we imply that one side’s argument (or army) defeated the other soundly. In reality, this rarely happens. That’s because the margin between victory and defeat is often just a Read more…

By Justin, 9 yearsMay 6, 2014 ago
Social Media

How Social Media Destroyed Itself

To everyone who’s ever created something and shared it online, I’d like to say one thing: I’m sorry. See, those of us who’ve been doing this for awhile now — we’re the ones who invented blogging, and tweeting, and YouTubing, and social networking, and we’ve been preaching about “the digital Read more…

By Justin, 9 yearsApril 15, 2014 ago
Armchair Sociology

The Commencement Speech I Wish Someone Had Given at My Graduation

I don’t remember a word from my graduation. I don’t even remember who spoke at it, much less what they said. That’s partly because I was exhausted (our art school staged our portfolio review and our graduation on the same day), but also because people rarely say anything memorable during Read more…

By Justin, 10 yearsMay 19, 2013 ago
Jon Hamm as Don Draper on AMC's TV series Mad Men
Armchair Sociology

What the Existence of Don Draper and Katy Perry Really Says About You

Why we need to stop living vicariously through our pop culture heroes and start living our own lives like we mean it.

By Justin, 12 yearsJune 16, 2011 ago
Armchair Sociology

How to Live Your Life in a No-Bullshit Zone

NOTE: I wrote this years ago, but I took it down when I last redesigned my blog. Then a reader told me that this post helped her a lot over the years, and she asked me if I would consider reposting it. So, after a few small updates, I did. Read more…

By Justin, 12 yearsMay 9, 2011 ago
Armchair Sociology

10 Questions You Should Ask Yourself More Often

Life is short. We’re busy. Things happen. And then we die. In the meantime, here are 10 questions you should ask yourself more often, so you don’t end up running in place between now and then. What did the 18 year-old me think the current me would be doing? What Read more…

By Justin, 12 yearsOctober 11, 2010 ago
Social Media

What I Learned by Reading Everything

Last week, Ian M. Rountree and I started Read It All Week, a challenge to read everything we were subscribed to — especially all the blogs we so easily subscribe to, but never actually absorb.  We did this for two reasons: To reconsider why we subscribe to certain kinds of Read more…

By Justin, 13 yearsJuly 26, 2010 ago

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