A small promise can become a person’s reason to expect something good from the week.

For someone whose week is mostly obligation or difficulty, a small arranged thing becomes a point to move toward. Coffee on Friday, a phone call on Sunday: the value sits less in the event than in having something ahead of you. That also means a casually cancelled plan takes away more than it appears to. Small promises carry weight in proportion to what else is in the week.

Make the plan specific rather than vague, and keep it on the day you would rather not. If you genuinely have to cancel, put another date in place before the conversation ends.