I have just started my second year and have hit a really low patch. My recent experiments suggest that what I have been trying to make for the past year and a bit might not work anyway. This coupled with my uncharacteristically low motivation is making things very difficult.

I know people hit a rough patch in their second year, but does anyone have any advice they wish had been said to them during such a time? thanks

Talk to your supervisor about how you are feeling/your concerns about your work!

I have a fab supervisor who I can always talk to, and I recall telling them in my second year that I was fed up, couldn't see where my research was going and ready to quit. After talking to them I decided to stick at it, but ... things might have been different if I hadn't spoken out and got everything out of my system (i.e. I would probably now be regretting having sacked it all off).

Keep going (and talk to people) ... what you are feeling is all part of the 'PhD Process'.

If not a supervisor talk to someone sympathetic e.g. postdoc/PhD.
Each setback shows you what to change next time to improve your design. A negative result is actually a result. If you are getting nowhere sometimes an extra project to create you some results will help. Can someone else confirm that it has negated all your results, or suggest the next step given this result?

I'm in second year too and feel exactly the same. I feel demotivated and have lost a lot of interest in the phd. I've actually been feeling this way since half way through first year. I think i'd be much happier if i quit but I'm afraid to do that.

The exact same thing happened to me in my second year. I was terribly depressed, and wanted to quit the PhD because things weren't going well and the finish line still seemed a long way away. My work output reduced significantly and I ended up in a disciplinary meeting.

I realised that I was demotivated because I was working really hard but I didn't seem to be moving any closer to the finish line; in fact with all the problems I was having it seemed to be getting further away! Once I had produced a plan for my work and started getting some tasks completed I felt a lot better because I could see that things were moving forward. When I got into my third year the end was in sight and my mood and motivation improved immensely.

(cont. in next post)

The best advice I can give you is to stop thinking about the ultimate goal and concentrate on achieving small goals. Break your PhD up into a list of tasks and try to start ticking some of them off the list. Wrapping up a phase of your work, or finishing a small research study, or writing a paper, or finishing a draft of your literature review - all these things will make you feel like things are moving and your goal is getting closer. Keep the overall PhD plan pinned up somewhere you can always see it, and you will see that the number of things ticked off on the plan will slowly but surely increase.

Just thought I'd add: if your research has showed that a particular line of inquiry isn't fruitful, that's valuable too. If necessary you could explain your results and show why this line of inquiry isn't feasible, then change your approach slightly based on this information and attempt to approach the problem from a different perspective.

thanks guys! Thanks for all the messages of support. I sat down with both supervisors (separately so they cant disagree :)) and we reviewed my mini action plan and this years deadlines. So I now have a more positive action plan, completing some simple stuff which should work first then move onto the more annoying bits. They were lovely and more supportive then I thought (both tea and chocolate were thrust my way), I guess they understand a lot more then I give them credit for. I feel a lot more positive today, even though deep down you know people do and are going through the same thing, its always nice to hear x

research is about error and trial, it's natural