Thanks for all the advice.
Having an okay day today - a good 3 1/2 hours of pretty solid work this morning and an hour this afternoon. Am feeling wiped out now though. Just can't think any more!
Still, it's better than the couple of hours I managed yesterday.

Hello all,
Searching the net for help and inspiration I spotted this forum and thought you might be able to advise.
I am coming towards the end of the first year of my PhD and I'm feeling completely at sea. I keep reading that you should treat a PhD like a 9-5 to get it done but at the moment I seem to be having one day where I can do a reasonable amount of work followed by one where I can do almost nothing then back to a reasonable amount and so on. I'm only working at the appropriate level half the time. I feel depressed and demotivated. I'm sure I haven't written or read enough this year and I've tried every motivational strategy I can think of.
My boyfriend, who is also a PhD student, now entering his 3rd year, has similar motivation and time management problems and it is causing rows and tension between us. :(