If you use macOS for work, you might’ve noticed surprise video effects — such as fireworks, hearts, lasers, confetti, and balloons — during recent Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams calls. The animated reactions, which appear with certain hand gestures, would be cute in a FaceTime with friends or family, but they’re appearing “at all the wrong times: board meetings, therapy sessions, during a pitch to potential investors,” and in an MSNBC interview with a U.S. senator, reports the Wall Street Journal. 

Fortunately, you can turn off the default setting, which might save you from an awkward workday moment. (Someday we’ll all look back and laugh at this, then return to our 24/7 digital existence within the Apple Vision Pros hardwired directly to our brains.)

Pessimism: Can “glass half-empty” ever be good for business?

Procrastination: Two ways to overcome wasting your own time

Abercrombie & Fitch: Before teen fashion, it sold outdoor goods

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Advice on the importance of “positive thinking” has inundated every small businessperson since time immemorial. It dominates self-help bookshelves and LinkedIn discourse. Without an optimistic mindset and good vibes, you can’t ~*manifest*~ results, right?

Well …

Curbing your enthusiasm might be key, according to a recent study of 36,000 UK households published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Researchers from England’s University of Bath linked excessive optimism to lower cognitive skills, less fluid reasoning, poorer memory, and weakened numerical reasoning. “Unrealistic financial expectations driven by excessive optimism can lead to high consumption, debt, and business failures,” Dr. Chris Dawson told Neuroscience News.

The key word here is excessive. In fact, previous research from UNC Chapel Hill found that high-performing teams use a 3:1 ratio of positive to negative language in conversation. Another study placed the ideal ratio at 6:1. Either way, they had some level of cynicism … or realism, as cynics might call it.

“Those highest on cognitive ability [had] a 22% increase in the probability of ‘realism,’” concluded the University of Bath researchers.

Without any sense of positivity or hope, it seems, entrepreneurs wouldn’t dare to build a business. But without any understanding of risk or market weaknesses, unbridled optimism leads to self-delusion and poor decision-making. The difference is a simple shift away from magical thinking and toward ambitious strategy — let’s call it positive realism.

So ~*manifest*~ all you want. Just make sure the numbers back you up.

Accepting payments is beyond important, but many first-time business owners are surprised that it’s beyond complicated. Now, though, there’s a unified point-of-sale (POS) system and credit card processor that makes the entire experience a breath of fresh air. 

Clover is an all-in-one POS system that provides your business with software, hardware, and processing support all in one place. Get started processing debit and credit card transactions right away, including tap and NFC payments. The built-in software allows you to track sales data and manage inventory with ease, helping you adapt in real-time to customer demand.

From the point-of-sale to the back office, Clover is your lucky charm.

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Dr. Steven Rogelberg is a chancellor’s professor at UNC Charlotte, former president of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and author of Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings.

Instead of focusing on a task we need to complete, we do other work of lesser importance; we dillydally and wallow as time runs out. Stated differently, we procrastinate.

Why is this temptation so difficult to overcome? A 2022 longitudinal study of 300 employees in the Journal of Business and Psychology provides two big insights and some paths forward.

Procrastination Is Linked to Negative Feelings

Employees experiencing a more positive emotional state don’t procrastinate as readily as those with more negative emotional states. Fortunately, there are ways to lift our mood: getting better sleep; eating healthily; helping others; avoiding toxic others (and interacting with others in a more positive mood state); getting outside; expressing gratitude; exercising regularly; and being mindful and present.

Our Deadlines Need Variation

Time pressure can lead us to procrastinate less, but the story is more nuanced than simply creating a high-pressure environment. Namely, a temporary elevation of time pressure can be very helpful; employees are more likely to overcome procrastination in a day with increased time pressure if it is preceded by a day with less time pressure.

If we are always feeling urgent time pressure, procrastination can prevail. But with day-to-day fluctuations, we tend to get past our productivity blocks. Set deadlines strategically so that some days provide opportunities for recovery. (One other twist: time pressure was really only important for those with more negative emotional states.)

Other strategies employees have reported as being helpful in overcoming procrastination include: having an accountability partner; providing small rewards for yourself as you make progress; breaking the task into doable chunks; setting clear goals; scheduling the activity; and seeking guidance from others.

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Once dubbed the most-hated retailer in America, Abercrombie & Fitch has gone through a series of ups and downs (and ups again) over the past two decades. The retailer has recently enjoyed record profits by ditching the shirtless models and over-perfumed stores — and lawsuit-plagued former CEO — while adding more inclusive sizes and casual styles.

It’s not the first time the company has had a complete makeover. When A&F was founded by David T. Abercrombie and Ezra Fitch in 1892, it sold elite sporting and excursion goods: high-end shotguns, fishing rods, tents, and even boats.

Abercrombie & Fitch continued to sell sporting goods until 1988 when it was acquired by The Limited (the parent company of Victoria’s Secret). During the ‘90s it became the preppy cool-kid brand many millennials remember.

Today, A&F is doing what it’s always done to succeed: evolve. It’s a good reminder to listen to your customers, stay flexible, embrace change, and maintain a pulse on key cultural and generational shifts.

Written by Dan Ketchum and Ali Saleh.