Welcome to Sustainable Computing

One-on-One Coaching

Through coaching, we work together to surface your underlying needs, preferences, and expectations of how technology should work for you. Most coaching sessions are 1–2 hours long, but can be longer or shorter depending on attention span, budget, accessibility, and other factors.

Most clients begin each session with a list of issues, questions, and things they want help with. “My storage is full”; “How do I organize and share photos?”; “What’s the best new Mac for me?” are but a few. I’m excited to dive in to address these and lead us to solutions, knowing we’ll discover more along the way.

However, I think it’s equally important to recognize what challenges and curiosities lie beneath the surface, such as “How do I learn shortcuts?”; “How do I prepare my Mac to give away, donate, sell, or recycle?”; or “All my stuff is backed up in the cloud, right?”

Are you someone who has pieced together their computing experience, done your best with the resources at hand, and invented workarounds for the challenges you’ve faced? Have you worked with a coach or consultant before but not in a while?

My coaching shines when I observe how you use technology, offer tips that eliminate obstacles, and help you realize that we can erase the little frustrations you’ve faced for eons. We’ll seek out the applications that help you accomplish your goals or pursue your passions, and design systems that enable easeful computing experiences.

Sustainability is a core value and you might wonder how computing can be sustainable. Apple devices tend to have better hardware–software integration and use less energy as a result. Second, bicycling is my primary mode of transit and biking to clients energizes me to do my best work.

Additionally, I focus strongly on helping you increase efficiency as well as build more delightful relationships with others who have different ways of using technology.

In addition to in-person and Zoom sessions, I offer support and coaching by email, text message, and phone. When feasible, I send clear written instructions to help clients resolve issues on their own. If appropriate, we schedule longer conversations on other channels or in person.

After most sessions, I will email a summary of our discussion and accomplishments, and identify next steps. If you need more or less detail in these messages, please let me know.

Mac Mondays

Nearly every week, I send an email featuring tips and short tutorials on one topic related to Apple hardware, software, or other systems that my clients are using or that I think is relevant to share. This newsletter usually comes out on Monday (or occasionally on Tuesday).

Mac Mondays (sometimes Tech Tuesdays) gives readers opportunities to explore their devices and increase savvy. These messages cover a wealth of features and capabilities, as well as addressing how we think about and interact with technology.

Each edition begins with a personal message about my recent interactions with clients and/or my life as well as my upcoming availability. Following are 3–5 panels containing tips, thought experiments, or tutorial steps, with screenshots or animations when appropriate, and links to relevant resources

While I periodically pull quotes and influence from various other news and information sources, all Mac Mondays content is original and authored by me. Most editions take 2–4 hours to produce.

On account of our new relationship, I have subscribed you to this newsletter, and that’s why you’re receiving this message. Some folks read it consistently, some save it and read later, and some store it for future reference.

Even if you choose not to consume the core content of each message, I invite you to glance at the opening words to capture the most up-to-date information about me and my schedule, and sometimes a note about important updates for your devices.

Feel free to browse the Mac Mondays archive or search for a specific topic.

Mac Mondays is a free publication. However, I welcome your voluntary support for the time I spend putting it together. If you wish, you may make a financial contribution.

Correspondence

I welcome you to contact me as questions come up or when you’re ready to schedule a coaching session. There are a number of ways you can reach me.

I prefer to receive your support requests by email at coach@sustainablecomputing.net. Messages sent here enter my case management system and you’ll receive the fastest response from me if you send your inquiry there.

Note, however, that Mac Mondays and occasional other messages such as scheduling requests come from ben@sustainablecomputing.net. Also, if I ask you to send me a file in the course of troubleshooting an issue, this is the preferred recipient address.

I appreciate that you respect this distinction. Please avoid replying to a Mac Mondays email when you want to request my help with an issue or schedule a coaching session. Instead, click the email link in the message or just compose a new message to coach@sustainablecomputing.net.

When emailing me, I encourage you to use an email subject that is relevant to the topic of your inquiry. What is your question about or why are you frustrated with your device?

Subjects like “question,” “hi,” “help,” etc. will net a slower response because I first need to figure out what you’re asking about. In that vein, consider entering your subject after composing the body of your email.

In your request, please share information about your observations and any evidence you have that something is awry. These will put me in the right mindset to help you effectively.

Also, if you’ve sent an email and realize you have more to say, or if you resolved your issue and don’t need my help, feel free to reply to the same email you sent before in order to follow up on it. This will keep it in the same conversation and avoid overwhelming me with different subjects across multiple messages.

Besides email, I also accept phone calls and text messages. I’m not constantly available to communicate with you but you can certainly try to reach me. If you leave a voicemail, I will return your call. Or, feel free to book a mutually convenient time right here on my website.

Billing, Rates & Subscriptions

Invoices
I create invoices using FreshBooks. If we meet in person and you pay before we leave each other, receiving your invoice is optional.

Otherwise, you can expect to receive an invoice by email, coming from mail@fb02.freshbooks.com. Sometimes, this may end up in your junk mail, so be sure to look there if you don’t see it in your inbox.

To pay an invoice, you can use your checking account or choose any of the other payment methods listed in the Terms section.

Rates: Most of my clients are paying the same hourly rate, which I surface before we meet or at our first session. If you require a different rate, I prefer to negotiate this in person or by phone. You can expect that my rate will increase every year or two, accounting for inflation and my cost of living.

Subscriptions: If you are the kind of person who prefers to reach out frequently for insight and instructions that you can follow on your own, a subscription plan might be a good fit. After we interact a bit and observe your needs, we can explore the option for you to pay a monthly fee and cover my time along the way.

Incident Rate: Clients who are not on subscription can expect an invoice for short engagements. For example, if you call for help and we talk for 15 minutes, I’ll charge you my incident rate. I generally bill at our hourly rate for fractions starting around 20 minutes.

We can also discuss any number of alternative scenarios depending on your needs for my regular or irregular support.

Location & Travel

If you are located in Berkeley, Albany, North Oakland, Emeryville, Southern El Cerrito, or Richmond Annex, we likely meet in person. I generally commute by bicycle to visit home and business clients in the flats of these neighborhoods. My trips to Berkeley Hills and Lake Merritt are rare but not impossible.

Alternatively, we can meet on Zoom. This is excellent for clients who are outside my territory and even for short sessions or quick fixes with anyone.

I find meeting on Zoom at least 80% as effective as in person. You can share your screen and I can request to control it. You can share your iPhone/iPad screen, too.

However, there’s something about looking through a screen and not being able to point to it that’s not quite the same as sitting next to each other. Zoom can also be less effective when troubleshooting other hardware like printers.

I don’t drive and I’m not fond of relying on car services. Some clients visit me in South Berkeley, some interact remotely, and I’m not opposed to you picking me up and driving me to and from your home. I’m not fond of meeting at a café but open to the possibility if it’s important to you.

If you live/work farther away or outside my normal territory and think you require in-person interaction, let’s talk about how we can connect.

Occasionally, if I can schedule more than one client back to back, I may travel a little farther than usual. I also have a few colleagues to whom I can refer clients who are not accessible to me. Together, we can figure out what’s best for you.

Finally, I make periodic trips to the D.C./Maryland area to visit my family. If you are in that neck of the woods, there might be opportunities for us to have in-person sessions when I’m in town.

Referrals & Networking

I love referrals! Do you know anyone who might benefit from working with me? Feel free to talk to friends, family, or colleagues about how I’ve helped you, or ask, “Do you use a Mac?” and “Who helps you with technology?” to invite them on the path, even if they don’t have a known problem.

I would also appreciate knowing whom you’re referring to me. Please ask your referral if you can share their contact info with me and also ask if they’d like me to call or email them to start the relationship.

Another good way to help others discover me is to review my business on Google and post shoutouts on Facebook and Nextdoor. Please write about your experience and what you gained from working with me.

I have a lot of business professionals in my network. Depending on where our conversations go, I may offer to refer you to someone in my network who can help with an issue or need you identify.

If so, I’ll share contact details during our meeting, in my followup email, and/or in a direct introduction by phone or email. I’ll also ask your permission for them to contact you.

If you are a professional, too, and looking to grow your business by referral, I might refer you to visit a local networking group where I used to be a member. Feel free to let me know if this interests you.