Thankful to have stumbled upon this forum, as I am running rather low on motivation and quite high on the usual late night caffeine fix. It's been 3 years since I've had a taste of freedom that has not been drenched in stress, anxiety, and/or guilt. I thought I had reached my bottom in year 2, as I watched my motivation ebb and flow quite regularly. However, it is now...the midpoint of my 3rd year that I have reached an all time low. It feels as though I blew a fuse in my brain that resulted in some sort of automatic shut down process. So now, here I stand, much like a particularly large slumbering cow, unmovable...untippable, but in need of tips on how to reactivate my brain and restore my motivation. I'll take pennies...nickles...pocket lint - really whatever can be spared. :-) Thank you and may the force be with you -

Ditch the coffee. Take some exercise. Get some zzzz.

You don't state at what point you are at i.e is progress slow, are you looking at the mountain of writing up etc. There are several stages through my PhD where the motivation was lost and it was due to the impending challenges. I agree with the previous post that you need to reduce caffeine in the evening. Take a few days out and get to bed early while getting out in fresh air during the day. A break will not set you back if you are not being productive! Once you are feeling better yourself look at the what needs to be done. Set yourself mini goals of things to do. Easier the better because you will be motivated as you tick each goal off the list. Then gradually increase the goal size and intensity. You will get back into it, as you have done so before. The PhD process is not an easy one and part of being successful is to have the determination to get through it.