A small favor at the correct moment can outweigh a large gesture at the wrong one.

Timing dominates magnitude. Twenty pounds on the wrong day is a nice gesture; twenty pounds on the day the account is empty is remembered for a decade. The same is true of a phone call, a lift, an offer to take something off someone’s plate.

This argues for speed over deliberation. When you think of someone and sense they are struggling, act that day in whatever small way is available. The perfectly considered version delivered next month will be worth far less.