Hi guys,
I'm currently in my second year PhD and I AM LITERALLY LOSING MY SHIT RIGHT NOW! I was always a hardworking kid but it's like I don't know who I am anymore. How should I finalize on a topic? I have been working on entrepreneurship and psychology but how should I formulate my research questions and variables? I have tried multiple methods, looked at gaps, papers...but I feel I'm getting nowhere. I don't know how to make sense of all the variables and give it a direction. I haven't been able to focus at all and every day just passes by in guilt! It's already my second year! Please help :(

Hello

I'm guessing you kind of already have your topic, you've just not refined it? Even if what you have right now is broad, you still have your topic, you just have to pick out what is most important to your area. From all you reading is there nay crucial gaps? Anything that should be explored further? Any theory you think needs further study?
Start broad - what do you know about your area. What particularly interests you within that area? Then drill it down to what you don't know.
Another good way I used was to look at all the knowledge you have and ask it questions, you'll soon finalise your topic that way
Good luck

Thank you so much for your response. Yes, I have been mostly reading around stress, motivation, and resources. I have also looked at a theory that I feel hasn't been optimally utilized in the entrepreneurship literature. I think because I have been looking for something concrete it has sort of limited my creative thought process. I am mostly thinking about variables and how I can combine them to make sense of this theory and its application in the entrepreneurship literature. I will try and revisit the knowledge and see if I can ask myself some questions... although I keep forgetting what I have read. I will try this approach. Thank you so much for your help. <3

Post it notes! Seriously I had a whole wall filled with them, write a bit of knowledge on them, stick them up, rearrange them (theories/methods etc) and then ask questions of the all knowing wall

I am at it <3

I might be a bit late but have you asked yourself what you want to know? I think it is hard to look specifically for a gap in knowledge but it is easy to find to one if you ask lots of questions after reading a paper. If you keep asking yourself questions and trying to find answers you will eventually find a research question without a clear answer. Then once you have a question you can play with variables to plan an experiment.

Thank you! I have been asking myself, I think I've been keeping very stressed, it's just hard to let go of that and openly think of research questions. I also took interviews and performed an exploratory qualitative analysis, but idk where my mind is at! I will try again.