Home2024-08-19T14:09:37+00:00

If you’re writing a PhD you have come to the right place!

I’m Amber Davis and I can help you finish your PhD in a couple of focused hours a day. 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 get you out of any PhD slumps you may be in.

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 get back on track 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.

If you are wondering why I do what I do: check out my story. Please do get in touch if I might be able to be of help. (In het Nederlands kan ook: ik ben Nederlands/ Engels.) I would be delighted to hear from you.

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 mini course by leaving your email below.

    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.

    Read more

    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 coaching sessions via Zoom or in-person in Amsterdam to get you back on track.

    Read more

    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.

    Get your copy

    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.

    Get started!

    BLOG

    Was It Worth It to Finish Your PhD? And Should I Finish Mine?

    When a PhD researcher asked me during a coaching call whether it had been worth it to finish my PhD in difficult circumstances my answer could have been both yes and no. I could hear the debate in my mind, which wasn’t really about my own PhD, but about hers, which she too was trying to finish in difficult circumstances: It may not be worth it, was a thought I had. When you’re facing something big (she was facing something big) you realise that the PhD isn’t that important. It doesn’t really matter whether you finish the project or not; [...]

    December 9th, 2023|

    Fighting the Borg. Or how to stay focused by working offline

    I only vaguely realised the Borg was a Star Trek reference when the phrase ‘It’s like fighting the Borg!’ popped into my head as I was thinking about social media consumption and addiction. I googled it just now, right after I promised myself I was going to get started writing this blog post. Technically I could even say it is part of work, right? Googling for my blog is doing research! I also know it is one of the habits I was much, much stricter about when I was finishing my PhD: I was uncompromising. I didn’t work online at [...]

    November 13th, 2023|

    Writing in Small Chunks: Tips from a Party with Academics

    When academics party, they party hard, this is common knowledge. It is of course, also the reason I said yes to an invitation to attend a party with academics. I hadn’t expected to be confronted with my own writing tips during this evening, although this is exactly what happened! In short: we danced, drank wine, and only talked about work a little tiny bit. Which in the case of talking about writing is a delight. The party was organized by a professor friend with two teenage daughters who had pleaded with their dad: it would have to be a dancing [...]

    September 13th, 2023|

    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 [...]

    February 28th, 2020|

    LIBRARY

    Free Resources Library

    I have compiled some free resources for you to download. An e-book, a short course with encouraging emails to nudge your writing productivity alive, and a worksheet with a mini-course to create an effective and very zen work routine.

    Leave your email to get access.

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