I am feeling a bit down after my review with my supervisor. He is very driven and sometimes manic. I have worked very hard during my first year of my PhD. The only remark he made was 'this does not mean anything'. I feel pretty useless and can't seem to impress him, although he is very supportive. How do you impress your supervisor?

Don't feel too down, Katie. At the end of my first year I was having great problems (more with my postdoc rather than supervisor). I felt i didn't have any results and felt like jacking it all in. But stick with and things will come good. If it is a science PhD you are doing you will find reults hard to come by in the first year and even most of the second year, but they will come and you will feel great when they do. Good luck.

Don't bother too much with impressing your supervisor. At the end of the day you are doing this PhD for yourself and you know how hard you have worked so far. If he is very supportive than you are lucky and doing OK ! You're not useless just because you are not manic!