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.

    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.

    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

    Five 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, [...]

    September 22nd, 2019|

    New Academic Year Ahead! And New Free Mini Course

    I have been working on a free mini course to help you develop excellent work habits (hello to getting those papers written!) but wanted to wait until I was sure the holidays were over. Now it is September, and the light has turned golden, and our gaze is once again firmly on our laptops. So it is time for an announcement! The ZenAcademic Worksheet (which you can find on my free resources page) now comes with a free mini course! It is an introduction to implementing the worksheet, which will help you: Create a work (and self-care) routine that is [...]

    September 2nd, 2019|

    Supervision Woes and Tips to Cope

    Sometimes synchronicity happens. And this time it happened with a good cry. About supervision. A few weeks ago I found myself walking through the park - the Amsterdam Vondelpark (far too touristy) - in tears. This was completely unexpected: I hadn't thought about my own PhD for years. It is an awful story: my supervisor died in the last year of my PhD. He had a heart attack. And I was suddenly sad about it. Really, really sad. This hadn’t really happened before in this way, and it is 8 years ago that he died, so it completely took me [...]

    July 12th, 2019|

    Stop, pivot, go in the opposite direction! Three ways to increase your PhD productivity

    PhD productivity is a funny thing. I have come to the conclusion you often have to move in the exact opposite direction of where your instincts are telling you to go. Hence today’s motto: Stop, pivot, go in the opposite direction! If you want, you can add a ‘breathe’ in there as well…stop, breathe, pivot, go! Maybe you’re familiar with the following ‘loop’: PhD progress is slower than you might like, deadlines real or imaginary are approaching, you are getting overwhelmed by the amount of work you still need to do, you start feeling bad about it, and yourself, PhD [...]

    January 21st, 2019|

    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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