I agree. I have found that too much focus on the future can cause anxiety. nnnI’ve had some success with with this M.O.: focus as relentlessly as possible on the long term while working (not just the day job, but while doing finances, etc.) and completely let go of the long term while playing (when doing a hobby, playing Chutes-and-Ladders with the kids, etc.). Otherwise I catch myself thinking about work when I should be enjoying time with my family or relaxing.

Yes, it is true. But, I try to think long term as my default.

Nice article. I think though that likely the cafe’s policy likely was to not consider discounted transactions as eligible for counting towards future discounts/freebies (a normal practice). The person just did a poor job of communicating it properly.

It may be, I got it from wikipedia commons.

It’s fairly common for companies to mandate that IT technologies be selected and provided by their tech support departments, rather than just allowing any random thing to be plugged in. This has less to do with wanting to prevent you from enjoying a nice 72-inch display if you can afford one, and more to do with the fact that you are connecting your new toys to a production network with a business purpose – and the choices you make can impact the business in ways you did not anticipate. For example, power loads across a corporate campus being much larger than expected, because dozens of people bought custom monitors and USB-powered coffee mug warmers. Or the tech staff being unable to provide quality support due to lack of equipment standardization. Or the massive security breach that happens when Fred from Accounting brings in his laptop and accidentally shares a virus along with his vacation pix.
So yeah, I can easily understand a company asking you not to bring in some random hardware you went out and bought without discussing it with the folks who built and support the network and systems you want to attach it to – seriously.

Checked out the links, interesting topic, but not quite the point here. Not trying to manipulate a situation to my advantage.