If you are too lazy for a dream journal you may also be too lazy for all this text. If that is the case, just read the last paragraph
Since I started lucid dreaming almost 2 years ago I have only written down a small amount of dreams in some kind of journal since I am kinda lazy. However, a month ago I decided I was going to record on which dates and how many lucid dreams I get every day for the entire year. And at the end of the year I am going to post a thread here with the statistics
I usually have a rough estimate of about 1 lucid dream per week but after the first month of writing down when I get a lucid dream I found out that I had a total of 10 lucid dreams this month! I’m not sure if I’m really bad at counting and usually have more than 1 LD per week, or if simply writing down the dates on which I had lucid dreams actually increased them. The result were good anyway.
If you have bad dream recall I believe this technique be used to improve it. Just write down the date and how many dreams you recalled after waking up. You can use a calender, a text document on your computer, or anything you like. Simply making a mental note of it will probably work too but i recommend writing it down for increased effect and statistics. I also make small notes sometimes like “15th january, 2x short LDs”
To sum it up: If you have bad dream recall, just write down the date and how many dreams you remembered after waking up. Or if you feel you just need to increase the amount of lucid dreams you have, simply write down the date whenever you wake up after a lucid dream (and how many you had).
Sorry but I don’t understand what you mean by “Can I just do this at or near the Title or something?”
I really doubt this can decrease dream recall. If it does, it’s probably not the technique itself but something about the subconscious believing it may decrease dream recall.
wasd , i have also been struggling to find time (and motivation) to write in my DJ) so iv tried something else.
the point of a DJ is to strain your memory to more and more of dreams and in increasing detail, thus making dreams more clear and lifelike allowing your decisions and reasoning to be more clear and lifelike by allowing the critical reasoning part of your brain to be active and question the dream
basically anything we do when we wake up that includes trying to remember a dream/ dream sign or differentiate between successive dreams will help the above processes in varying degrees
my method is , whenever you do a RC, also think about the previous nights/weeks dreams try remember specifics as you would in a DJ. i have gone about 4 months without an LD and have had increasingly bad dream recall without my DJ, iv implemented this method about one week back and had my first LD last night, incidentally i can remember more dreams off the top of my head than before. I still have to test this since 1 LD can be a coincidence.
i wouldnt recommended ditching a DJ for any other method but if like me it is hard to keep using a DJ try this
I like keeping a DJ but when I do, I get way too many long dreams to write down (at least 3-6 pretty long, or at least complete dreams) if I’ve had my DJ going a week or two. It’s about one or two a night without, and not always as complete. It just depends on how much a dream had an impact on me.
I still LD every so often, especially during naps in which I have time to dream, or when I sleep for a long time (usually when I’m sleeping at least 10 hours… has to be AT LEAST 8 if I do a WBTB). As I said, I like keeping a DJ, but it just gets too time-consuming and frustrating for me when I have to write down 4-6 dreams a day, so I don’t keep one at this point. I thought about writing down just my LDs, but I rarely do that unless I have a need to (like for the LC). This sounds interesting, and I might start writing the date and start including NDs in my count. If those start getting better I might go to just LDs, but either/or should be good for my recall and my LD count.
Thanks for sharing!
Edit: I’ve actually done something like this before… Mimmo_O had a chart that he used to track lucid “points” depending on LD and recall frequency instead of a DJ and let me have the template… Guess I should look for that template again.
ZRVera.
I am in the same situation myself - I have 5-8 dreams a night and I am a very busy man.
What is the answer? its simple: 2 ways
write in bulleting - dont write stories about your dreams but write them with main idea (ex. 1. I was in a pool 2. X was there too 3. We were swimming. 4. Main idea = bla bla bla.
second way is to use a tape recorder/ phone/ Mp3recorder
I use the 1st method and its very quick and solid and when I do have time and I want to write down the entire dream, I do that.
Oh sorry, I meant that instead of stopping writing my dreams, but instead if I could put it near the title, every night is marked with the date, a title based of ONE of the dreams, and then all the dreams in order. 3-2-11: Title. Anyway… My Dream Recall is pretty weak and easily disturbed, a few days without it and it will break. Anyway… I try out this technique anyway. It seems to have a effect already.
Blucid, I have done that before, but it still gets long and time-consuming. I also don’t always have time to do even that before work since I’m up at 4 to work at 5 on weekdays. I would use a recorder, but doing that at 4 am with a roommate at college isn’t a good idea, I don’t believe. I should probably do that chart again though…
Yes that will probably have good effects too I am not some kind of professional that knows everything about this technique i discovered and everyone is different so you have to try it out.
I believe that the core of most techniques is to affect your subconscious into having LDs and remember more dreams. You can probably program yourself to recall more dreams if you eat an apple every day. And if you go a day without eating an apple your dream recall will be worse that night.
Having a dream journal is a way to tell your subconscious that remembering dreams is important. Eating an apple or having a dream journal can both me used to improve your dream recall. And what most techniques are trying to do is finding an easy way to tell your subconscious “I want to remember many dreams” (or to have lucid dreams). For some people works by just saying it to yourself. But for most people it is easier with a technique.
Simply writing down the date and a number for how many dreams you remember every night like I explained in the first post is a way to do this. And the stronger you believe in it, the more likely it is to work. If you believe strongly enough that eating an apple every day will increase your dream recall, it will
It seems to have a effect already.
