If you’re writing a PhD you have come to the right place!
I’m Amber Davis and I’m on a mission to make PhD stress a thing of the past. I believe productivity and self-care go hand in hand, especially so in the academic world. I teach an online programme and provide coaching to help you increase your productivity and boost your wellbeing.
Maybe you are feeling overwhelmed and behind, and are spending long days staring at your screen without making much progress. Perhaps you are unsure whether your work is ‘good enough’, and ‘far enough ahead’ (whatever that means). Maybe you are stuck with a particular chapter or article. There are always difficult stretches along the way. It is part of the process.
The Stress-Free PhD 6-Week Programme to the rescue! It will help you optimise your work routines and write your PhD (almost) effortlessly. Join me for 6 weeks of focus, productivity and self-care.
While you are here you can also read the blog, download the ZenAcademic Worksheet, and check out the other free resources.
I’m delighted you’ve found your way here. Let’s create a fulfilling academic life and let’s get some work done…
Hello, I’m Amber Davis. Let me help you write a more inspired, productive and happier PhD. Get started right now! Get access to my free resources including the ZenAcademic Worksheet by leaving your email below.
Create a superfocused workday with the ZenAcademic Worksheet!
COURSES & E-BOOKS
6-WEEK PROGRAMME
The Stress-Free PhD
Does your PhD need a boost? What if focus became a habit, and you could leave worry and PhD guilt behind? In this six-week course we will be developing essential productivity and self-care habits for a stress-free PhD.
COACHING
Coaching Sessions
Feeling stressed, demotivated, or overwhelmed? Maybe your progress has come to a halt. Difficult stretches happen to everyone on the PhD path. I offer Skype coaching sessions to work it through.
FREE E-BOOK
Finding Your
Academic Voice
My e-book Finding Your Academic Voice covers all the familiar topics: developing your core argument, research design, using the literature, finding your place in the field, the writing process. It just does it differently.
ENCOURAGING EMAILS
The Nudge
Does your academic workday seem to be never-ending? It doesn’t have to be this way. You can work shorter hours, get more done and feel better too. Sign up to receive a week of free daily email guidance to shorten your workday.
BLOG
Feel like you’re underperforming? It’s not you! (It’s the system)
Sometimes I feel like a broken record when I am talking about writing a PhD: no matter what you may be struggling with, I am likely to reply: “It’s not you!” Most PhDs at some point or another think there must be something wrong with them (this once included myself), or with what they are doing, that otherwise they wouldn’t be struggling as much. Academia is a challenging environment to perform and feel well in, most of the time. It can be a relief to realise that it is not some character flaw on your part that is causing you [...]
Read MoreWhat to Do When Writing Is Hard
This blog post came about after I had to produce a piece of writing on a subject new to me. I thought I would get it done easily in a couple of days. Ehm, not so. It took me a week-and-a half before I was satisfied. And there were quite a few moments while I was writing where I thought back at my PhD, because hey I remembered this feeling! The beginning where you sit down and think: oh, this is going to be so interesting. Then when that wears off the realisation that writing an authoritative piece on a [...]
Read MoreShould I quit my PhD? Hitting a wall and answering the big questions
Have you read Joan Bolker’s “Writing your dissertation in 15 minutes a day”? I was reminded of a passage in that book when I was talking to a PhD researcher about whether or not to continue and finish the project, or alternatively drop the whole thing and embark on something entirely different. The passage in Bolker’s book goes as follows: “There’s another kind of hitting the wall that sometimes happens to thesis writers: you feel an impossible barrier between you and the finish line, the bottom falls out of your hopefulness and ambition, and your spirits border on despair and [...]
Read MoreFive tips to feel more in control of your PhD
PhDs are slow and slippery projects, it is not at all uncommon for them to feel completely out of control, at some or many stages of the process. Feeling in control of what you are doing may be right up there at the top of your lists of wishes and wants! Feeling a lack of control is the twin sister of feeling helpless, and the two of them are not the cheeriest of company. A few tips to help dodging them: 1. PhDs are uncertain creatures The first thing to note is that feeling a lack of control is normal, [...]
Read MoreWORKSHEET
ZenAcademic Worksheet
Use the ZenAcademic worksheet to create your optimal workday. It will help you focus, prioritise, and get work done. It will also help you balance the stresses of academic life. Self-care included!
Leave your email to download the worksheet.