About my process

We’ll talk for an hour (55 minutes) once a week over Zoom.

Typically a session involves talking through a clarification of your goals and any avoidance patterns, miscalibrated goals, or emotional blindspots that are impeding your goals. Then we'll create an action plan with homework for the week, and start out the next session with both accountability and identifying where this homework wasn't a good strategy for you so that we can iterate.

I’m best suited to talk to you about goal setting and personal development. I want to help you look at an audacious, overwhelming goal and drill down into what value you’d really get out of that goal and help you tailor a strategy that more efficiently optimizes for those positive outcomes.

If you're looking for my help I think that means there's some roadblock that is making it hard to achieve your goals on your own, either an emotional one or a matter of functional planning, and I consider it my job to break down what that roadblock is and to help you build the skills to surmount it.

What that means in a functional sense is a lot of talking and trying to select goals that are a true reflection of what you value, and then repeatedly break down what concrete actions you need to take in order to make real progress on those goals in a way that is going to work for you.

I have a MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience with a research topic in human motivation. I've been a professional coach since 2022, with over a thousand session-hours, and dozens of CE hours certified by the American Psychological Association. Beyond institutional education, I have spent a great deal of personal time and research in finding ways to optimize my own productivity and happiness and have developed an intuitive sense for identifying emotional roadblocks and ill-fitting goals that I bring to my sessions.

Yes — and in most cases you won't need a formal proposal document. A number of my clients are funded out of a professional development, L&D, or wellbeing budget, and in most cases that is a decision their own manager can make without going through a formal vendor process.

I can invoice your employer directly or give you an itemised receipt to expense, and I can supply tax documentation, a purchase-order number, or vendor paperwork if your finance team asks for it. Sessions stay confidential either way: an employer who pays receives an invoice and, if they need it, confirmation that sessions happened — never session content, notes, or progress reports.

There's a page written specifically to be forwarded to a manager or budget holder, with scope, cost, confidentiality, and billing details: for your manager.

Approvals go more smoothly when the request names the budget it comes from, the outcome it is for, and a fixed total. Here's a template you can adapt:

Hi [name],

I'd like to use my professional development budget for one-to-one coaching with Ida Mayer (coaching.idamayer.com/for-your-manager). She specialises in productivity and burnout, has an MSc in cognitive neuroscience, and was previously at Google.

I'm looking for help with [the specific thing — protecting focus time, following through on a project that keeps slipping, getting back to a pace I can sustain]. I'd like to start with 12 sessions over three months, at $120/session, for a total of $1,440.

Sessions are confidential, so I wouldn't be sharing session content back — but I'm happy to talk about what I'm getting out of it. She can invoice the company directly against a PO or I can expense it, and she can provide a W-9, an NDA, and a statement of work if procurement needs them.

Let me know if you need anything else to approve this.

I bill monthly through Stripe at the end of the month for all sessions attended plus any cancelation fees. See my cancelation policy here. Please note, you must have a payment method on file which will be charged directly. If you do not already have a payment method on file, I will send an invoice with payment instructions after your first month where you can save a default payment method. Please reach out to me if you need any special accommodations with billing.

If after our first session you feel I’ve wasted your time I will gladly immediately refund you your session fee.

Unfortunately, I can't offer guarantees about your outcomes from my coaching services.

My ongoing rate is $150/session, or $120/session if you keep a standing slot — weekly, biweekly, or every four weeks. That discounted rate applies to any one-off session you book too, for as long as the standing slot is active. For your first session I offer an introductory rate of $40/session. The first session is offered at zero risk: please ask me for a refund if you felt my coaching was unhelpful or not what you expected.

Prefer to prepay a block of sessions and book flexibly instead? I also offer a 12-session package at $120/session — $1,440 total — with no recurring schedule required.

Yes — lunch-and-learns, offsites, all-hands, or a community-of-practice session. I currently give two talks: one on the neuroscience of procrastination, on why capable people stall on work they're entirely able to do and which interventions actually have research behind them; and one on motivational interviewing and the logistics of follow-through. Each runs 45 to 60 minutes including questions, remote or in person.

I also run longer hands-on workshops for smaller groups. Reach out to me for details.

Absolutely — I'm happy to work with whatever your schedule needs. Just drop me a message.

Same-day cancellations or rescheduling notice will incur a $40 fee, and unfortunately less than 30 minutes from the session start time sessions can no longer be cancelled and will be charged the full amount. A booking will also be considered a no-show if you have not arrived within 15 minutes of the scheduled start time and have not contacted me to let me know you're still planning to attend.

I understand that unforeseen circumstances sometimes require a change in schedule; it is my hope that this policy will accurately reflect the opportunity cost of calendar instability without reducing the flexibility in your schedule should you need it.

Yes! If you refer a new client who sees me for at least 2 sessions, I'll give you a $40 credit towards your next session — or, if you'd rather, I'll donate $40 to a charity of your choice. Please let me know whom you referred or ask them to give me your name.

Those are all great options! For many people, those options may not be the right audience to discuss certain topics. I can offer you advice as an unbiased third party, will protect your confidentiality, and am non-judgemental to sensitive topics you may not be ready to discuss with your loved ones. Additionally, I have a specific focus on helping people achieve their goals, and you may find it helpful to have a dedicated time and person to work on that area of your life.

By booking a session with me you agree to the terms and conditions laid out in this document. What data I collect and how it is handled is covered separately in my privacy policy.

You can book with me directly at cal.com/idamayer. If you'd like to contact me first or have any special requests, please fill out this form and I'll get back to you promptly.