I am in my first 8 months of my PhD without any progress at all. I have no results and nothing to write in my transfer report.
I was trying hard all the past 8 months ,not going out and spending most of my time trying to understand what i am doing.
My supervisor insists that i should concetrate on my PhD and spend even more time on it. More or less he is saying that i should avoid doing anything that is not directly related to my project!!! he doesn't even allow me to attend conferences in my study area as i am not presenting anything (so much for networking...).
Now after all those months of meaningless "isolation" i have started questioning whether i should continue or no t...

At exactly this point in my first year I started questioning whether or not I really wanted to continue. The honeymoon wears off after a couple of terms and the end seems a very long way away... The PhD process has many ups and downs, and it sounds like you've hit one of the troughs. I relate strongly to the sense of academic inadequacy and to the isolation problem. It's an unfortunate combination because the former can make you bury yourself in your work even more (as your supervisor is suggesting), which only worsens the sense of loneliness.

I decided that the only way I was going to get through was not to throw myself even deeper into my research, but to develop a meaningful life outside the PhD: I teach, exercise regularly, volunteer, attend an evening class etc. This doesn't mean I'm not committed to my PhD, but I think it's important that PhD students know that it's ok to cultivate a life outside the PhD: not wanting your research to define you doesn't make you unworthy of your position. Obviously it's difficult if your supervisor is pressuring you to become a research machine, but bear in mind the importance of work-life balance. Could you find the words to explain to him why it's important to you to get more involved in your research community? As for not having any meaningful results at this stage, my experience is that many PhD students spend the first year familiarising themselves with the field and finding their feet. Don't expect too much of yourself too soon.

If your project isnt working out that just leaves more time for a fab lit review on your project, and setting up how you want your project to go. Is it just one experiment that isnt working? Maybe you can try another part of your project or does it all hinge on that part of the project?

I agree with litphd, having other things to do other than your PhD (beneficial to you) really helps keep you motivated.

Teaching duties, getting involved with careers stuff etc are all great. I don't agree with your supervisor's attitude at all. It definitely isn't the attitude any of my supervisors have!

I felt so disillusioned for the first 8 months of my PhD as well. I decided to take a week off and try to completely distance myself from it in every way (very difficult to do but try to stop thinking about it completely). I went to stay with some friends and distance myself from it physically as well. Then when I got back to it, I focused on very samll aspects of it, daily goals and gradually things started to gather momentum. You'll surprise yourself with how much you actually have achieved when you return to it with a clear head! Hope that's helpful??

Hi there Michael, I had exactly the same problem in my first year, around 6 months in... my supervisor was piling the pressure on, not letting me go to conferences and I was working my butt off, and all it resulted in was a very stressed frazzled me that at my desk every morning would end up crying my eyes out. I ended up (a) sitting down with my supervisor and explaining I couldn't work any harder, and even had to give up a few of the things he'd wanted me to do; (b) learning to say no, and often plainly ignor my supervisors opinion; and (c) going to a conference despite my supervisor saying it was a waste of time - it was the best boost ever - mixing with lots of other researchers doing similar work... to be honest it was a PhD-saver. Balance between work & play is also essential - otherwise you will either go insane or burn out. For me that is running, yoga & spending time with friends. I'm now nearing the finish line, and this approach has worked for me :) so good luck!

hello there...
During my first year I pretty much did nothing else besides the PhD... even though I got some results, it turned out they were rubbish. Now, I work fewer hours (normal 8 hours that is...because before I worked for around 10 - 11 hours), do other things as well (i.e. sports) and I think I produce better results!

Of course, that might be due to the fact that I am now towards the end of my second year and I "know my stuff" better, but studies did show that the brain works better when it has a good balance of relaxation and stress. So give it a try... take it easy and see if it works for you.. One way or the other you are bound to get SOME results so you might as well chill and not worry too much about it..