The Power of the Pivot Plan
After sitting in the dentist’s chair for one hour, having your teeth meticulously cleaned by a hygienist, examined by the doctor for cavities, and being told you will need your crown replaced next time, you check out with the receptionist. The receptionist opens their scheduling tool and asks you when you are free, starting six months from the day. You open your calendar to February and all you see are recurring meetings that live in perpetuity and February break. But are you free February 2nd at 10AM? How can you know that now? All you know is that it’s Groundhog Day and you’ll receive unscientific information about how the rest of winter will go, when the only real information you need is that our planet is on fire and no Groundhog is going to save us.
Why bother making an appointment six months out, when the likelihood of changing the day and time is so high? Is it really an appointment, or is it just a placeholder? And do receptionists want to be in the business of taking placeholders over appointments? I would argue that the placeholder appointment still has value, even if it is bound to change.
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First - our calendars fill up quickly. Even if February looks empty now, soon the ski trips, kids V-Day school parties, and annual check-ups will fill your days. The dentist could send you a reminder in January that it is time for your next teeth cleaning, but when you get around to making the appointment, availability is limited and you are booking for March.
Second - if we all managed our doctor’s appointment using recurring Asana tasks, noting how far in advance the appointment should be made, we would not need to make placeholder appointments. But not everyone is keeping meticulous track of every semi-annual task, leaving it to the dentist’s office to send you a reminder and a follow-up anyway. It might be the same amount of work to reschedule an appointment as it is to remind someone to make an appointment and at least with rescheduling, you have that client on your books, less likely to leave you for another dentist.
Third - it’s easier to pivot from a plan that is made than to pivot from no plan at all. Oftentimes, I map out activities for a day of travel, knowing full well that I won’t get to everything or I may end up following something interesting and derailing the plan. But it is easier for me to take a detour and find my way back to the original path than it is to wake up with no plan at all, no starting point. Throw that dentist appointment on your calendar as a plan for February—if that day and time don’t work out, you’ll pivot.
In the end, the placeholder appointment isn’t about certainty—it’s about intention. It’s a way of telling your future self, “I’ve got you,” even if the details change. Life is full of detours, but having a direction matters.
