What’s holding you back?

Your first challenge was figuring out an impactful career. Now you’re trying to figure out how to excel at it — and something is in the way.

Maybe you spend hours polishing work past the point where the polish improves it. Maybe you took on a new role and the keep-it-all-in-my-head approach that got you here has stopped working. Maybe you keep planning to protect time for your most important work, and the week keeps eating it. Or maybe you can’t articulate the problem beyond a nagging sense that your hours and your output don’t match.

I coach professionals working on the world’s most pressing problems — professors, software engineers, managers, PhD students, researchers, traders, consultants — on exactly these kinds of bottlenecks. I use an experiment-based approach where we start with ideas that have worked for others and iterate until we’ve found what works for you.

I won’t promise to solve everything, and you won’t end up with a four-hour work week. You can’t do it all. But you can do what matters most.

Schedule a free call
$200 per call
Sliding scale available

How it works

We start with a free 30-minute fit call: you describe what you’re stuck on, I give you my initial read and some immediate suggestions, and we both decide whether coaching makes sense. If it does, we book four 50-minute sessions.

Each session, we pick your biggest current bottleneck, diagnose it, and design an experiment or action plan to run before the next call. Between calls, you can email me with questions or accountability check-ins. Most clients continue for 4–12 sessions; we wrap up when the problems you came with are handled.

Does it work?

Honestly: it depends mostly on you. Sessions are where we diagnose and plan; the change happens in the weeks between calls, when you run the experiments. Clients who consistently do that homework tend to see real change. Clients who don’t, don’t.

FAQ

What does coaching cost? — The sessions are $200 per 50-minute session, and I bill in groups of four sessions. I have a generous sliding scale available based on financial need. If you’re not sure if you can afford coaching, feel free to sign up for an intake call — you can get the benefit of the first session and discuss the sliding scale during the call.

What types of issues do you work with? — Your biggest problems. More seriously, coaching is tailored to the areas you most want change. Maybe that’s a big area, like how to discipline yourself to independently write your thesis, or a specific strategic area, such as email management.

Some common areas are:

  • Perfectionism and imposter syndrome
  • Making plans and clarifying goals
  • Balancing high standards with reasonable expectations so you accomplish a lot without burning out
  • Setting up experiments to test what works best for you
  • Todo systems so you can prioritize without feeling overwhelmed or accidentally dropping balls
  • Big picture career and research planning
  • Building robust routines and habits
  • Helping work through big life changes and decisions
  • Deliberate practice and skill building

Is coaching confidential? — Yes, coaching is confidential. I will not share that you’re my client or the content of coaching sessions with outside parties without your permission. There are a few exceptions to confidentiality, primarily in cases of legal requirement or imminent harm, which you can read more details about here.

Do I need to prepare for our first call? — I will send you a google doc agenda to fill out before our first call. This gives you a chance to think about possible areas to discuss, and gives me a bunch of useful background information so that we can dive right in during the call. You will have action points to complete between each of our subsequent calls.

How long does coaching last? — I start with four sessions, because I’ve found it usually takes a few weeks to experiment and build habits enough to see significant change. Clients frequently find it most useful to continue coaching for eight to twelve sessions. I generally wrap up sessions when your specific problems have been addressed, although some clients find coaching helpful over longer periods.

What is the cancellation policy? — If you can't make a scheduled appointment, please let me know 24-hours in advance so we can reschedule. Missed appointments, rescheduled appointments, or cancellations without 24-hours’ notice may be charged the full cost of the session.

Where can you take clients? — I can take clients around the world. I'm based in London, UK, so I'm generally available for calls during the morning for US time zones and in the evening for time zones near Australia.

What is the difference between an EA coach and a non-EA coach? — I think there are a couple important differences, at least for me.

One, I’m familiar with existential risk concerns and can discuss how they are affecting you or your career.

Two, I understand how much you care about your impact on the world. My goal in coaching is to help you maximize your impact in a sustainable, healthy way. I won’t dismiss your desire to accomplish more or automatically tell you to work less.

Third, I’m familiar with rationality concepts and CFAR-style tools, if you want those.

In most other respects, I expect the coach’s style and area of expertise to make a bigger difference than whether they are in the effective altruism community or not. I focus on productivity with an experimental approuch, which is quite different from a coach who will mainly focus on emotional exploration or interpersonal relationships. I'm also very blunt and direct. If you want a really gentle coach, I'm probably not the best fit.

Is coaching the same thing as therapy? — I’m a productivity coach. I am not a therapist or doctor. If you just want to work through an argument with your girlfriend or you need help with depression, I encourage you to seek a qualified doctor or therapist.

If you think you might like to see a therapist, there is now a database of community-recommended providers that you can filter to find someone who fits your needs.

Should I sign up for coaching if I’m not sure it’s a good use of your time relative to other people you could coach? — You should go ahead and sign up for a call. I was asked to include this question in the FAQ section, and I've had several people ask this question who I think were a great fit for coaching. I’d prefer to discuss it in our call rather than have great people not sign up for coaching! I'll tell you if I think my coaching is the wrong tool for you.

I’m looking for career coaching; do you do that? — I frequently help clients through career transitions. I'm happy to help if you're looking for help structuring your goals, staying motivated, prioritizing key tasks, and thinking through big considerations. If you're looking for subject-matter help, then there are likely better fits.

I can also help if you’re trying to get better in your current job. I can help you structure deliberate practice, carve out deep work time, and prioritize so you make progress quickly.

I have ADHD; will your coaching help with it? — While I sometimes work on productivity with people who are dealing with ADHD, I don’t specialize in it. I usually schedule calls every 2-4 weeks, so clients need to be able to execute on our action items for a protracted period independently. If you aren't able to consistently complete the action items we plan in coaching calls, I would recommend seeking a therapist or coach who specializes in ADHD instead.