Hello, y name is Cayden, I have been into Lucid Dreaming before, but never attempted to keep going through with it. I recently got back into it (Mainly because I love dreaming. When I attempt to LD, I have a dream 5 or 6 out of 7 nights per week). The thing that I keep forgetting to do is reality checks. I recently though of an Idea where I set my phones alarm every hour, then I preform a reality check.
Would this become a good habit, or a bad habit for attempting to get Lucid? Would I end up relying too much on my phone’s alarm?
Well in my opinion is more bad idea then good. If you rely on your phone to remember you to make a RC then this is what you gonna do. You will do RC when you hear your alarm but what when something else happens and there is no alarm sound? Will you make a RC or you will not?
I prefer to make a habit to RC whenever I remember or whenever I see something that is not common for me. RC’ing is pretty good technique but not enough to really make you lucid, you may be lucky and actually make a RC in a dream now and then but to have frequent lucid dreams you need to make more effort…
I have found that making a habit of doing reality checks throughout the day is one of the most ineffective techniques to achieve lucidity and in most cases it even destroys the individual’s (in this case, you) interest in lucid dreaming itself.
It will fail for the same reason almost all major lifestyle changes fail.
But don’t be discouraged - there are easier ways to become lucid that are more effective and takes less effort to achieve.
More specifically, since it looks like your dream recall is on par, I would recommend the WBTB and MILD techniques. I personally wake up for 10 short minutes after I have slept for 4 and a half hours. I do this every single night. Studies show that this increases the amount of REM sleep you get in a single night, in turn increasing your chances of a lucid dream.
Hope this helped
p.s. I personally NEVER use reality checks, whether it be in real life or in a dream, unless it is to increase my lucidity AFTER becoming lucid. In contrast, reality checks really helped me out when I first started practicing lucid dreaming about one year ago, but it has never been the cause of me becoming lucid.
Use a reality check when you are in a dream and you suspect that it might be a dream, even if it is the slightest suspicion.
