Remembering to do something (prospective memory)

**Hirondelle** · 01-21-2016 12:12 PM

You can call it what you want, intention or motivation, but it's all got to do with remembering to do something.

I feel my prospective memory is not good enough so I've decided to do the excercise that Stephen Laberge proposes in ETWOLD:

Exercise: Prospective Memory Training
1. Read the day's targets
This exercise is designed to be practiced over an entire week. Below is a set of four target events for each day of the week. When you get up in the morning, read only the targets for that day. (Do not read the targets before the proper day.) Memorize the day's targets.

2. Look for your targets during the day.
Your goal is to notice the next occurrence of each event at which time you will perform a state test (Reality Check) and ask yourself, "Am I dreaming?" So, if your target is "The next time I hear a dog's bark," when you hear this next, note it and do a state test. You are aiming to notice the target once- the next time it happens.

3. Keep track of how many target events you hit
At the end of the day, write down how many of the four targets you succeeded in noticing (you can make a space in your dream journal to record your progress with this exercise). If you realize during the day that you missed your first chance to notice one of your targets, then you gave failed to hit that target, even though you may notice its occurrence later in the day. If you are certain that one of more of the targets did not occur at all during the day, say so with a note in your dream journal

4. Continue the exercise until you have tried all of the daily targets given below. If at the end of the week, you are still missing most of the targets, continue until you have hit most of them. Make up your own list of targets, keep track of your success fate, and observe how your memory develops.

I felt I'm going to need more than one week, so I made myself this sheet, to keep track of results. I'm joining it to he post. Does anyone want to join me? Training prospective memory.pdf

**lunagoddess** · 01-21-2016 05:17 PM

Nice! I will join you, I feel like it's something I need to work on again. I don't know that I'll need that many weeks to practice but I might switch them out for my own targets after a week or two. Thanks!

**Patience108** · 01-21-2016 09:38 PM

Thanks for sharing Hirondelle

**RedNaxela** · 01-21-2016 11:24 PM

I'm going to join in.

As it happens, I found a bunch of my old business cards on decent stock. I printed off some labels and stuck one cue-word to the back of each. I'm thinking that I will shuffle this 'deck' and put three upside-down on my bedside table every night to read when I wake-up.

**dolphin** · 01-21-2016 11:48 PM

You can do this same exercise at night as well. Just create your own targets based on what you dream about most.

**Hirondelle** · 01-22-2016 10:25 AM

Would so much like to Dolphin, but first I need better dream recall!!!!

**Hirondelle** · 01-23-2016 05:20 PM

Almost a week of doing the exercise. Far from being able to tick the four boxes in the evening. I'll have at least one, and max. 3. One of the things to look for was "when you see stars". That day was very grey (cloudy), so no star to be seen, so I was going to note that. Than I suddenly thought of the man I saw on television, wearing a suit made out of a fabric full of stars! Shit, missed that one!

**xxPhoebusxx** · 01-25-2016 06:05 PM

This is what I'm doing. I just make up 3 random targets for the day.

**Hirondelle** · 01-25-2016 09:06 PM

Bad exercise day.........:-( forgot to look at the targets this morning......

**Patience108** · 01-25-2016 10:04 PM

Don't you mean - Tomorrow you feel your gonna be just great at your practice and exellent at remembering!
Don't you just know it sounds better that way

**Hirondelle** · 01-25-2016 10:25 PM

Patience108: I'm going to get them all tomorrow!!!!!!

**TDHXIII** · 01-27-2016 09:48 PM

Seems like I'm going to do this aswell now that i decided on MILD as my ultimate method to follow. Because 4 targets seem like too much for me.. I'll try practicing 2 targets per-day. I'll report back after a while of doing this. Laters..

Edit
I'm going to set up a third target. A target that is pretty much my dream sign, though not an easy one. It is that whenever i see someone i know, i will RC.

**Hirondelle** · 01-28-2016 09:01 AM

Patience108: I had three of four, the day before yesterday. None yesterday!

TDHXIII: I think I'll have to try like you. Sometimes, I can't even think of the four just 15 minutes later. Maybe start with two and build up to three and four when it seems to be working.

**Hirondelle** · 02-01-2016 11:27 AM

Well guys, (TDHXIII, xxPhoebusxx, RedNaxela, lunagoddess, I'm curious to know how you are doing with the exercise.

I find it really, really hard. Discouraging even. So I've decided that this week I'm going to do something different. Last night in bed I said to myself that I'm going to do a reality check the next time I brush my teeth. And I did, this morning. At that moment I picked the next event (which will be happening in a few hours max. (the next time I start a car). When that works, I'll think of something new at that moment, but not more than 4 hrs away. I'll report back here.

**TDHXIII** · 02-01-2016 06:40 PM

Originally Posted by Hirondelle

Well guys, (TDHXIII, xxPhoebusxx, RedNaxela, lunagoddess, I'm curious to know how you are doing with the exercise.

I find it really, really hard. Discouraging even. So I've decided that this week I'm going to do something different. Last night in bed I said to myself that I'm going to do a reality check the next time I brush my teeth. And I did, this morning. At that moment I picked the next event (which will be happening in a few hours max. (the next time I start a car). When that works, I'll think of something new at that moment, but not more than 4 hrs away. I'll report back here.

Likewise, I found it very discouraging and slightly stressing that I have to keep my eyes in case my targets show up. Right now I have this (and MILD) on standby since my sleep pattern got messed up and I can't WBTB yet. To add insult to injury I just caught a headache. I may continue this after a little experiment on DILD&Mindfulness. I recommend that you do a WBTB to re-affirm your intention (If you're aiming to MILD) and then sleep.

**Patience108** · 02-01-2016 10:03 PM

Hi Hirondelle

Yes these kind of things are definitely not easy peesy to just "do" - it is a learning curve in it's self seeing how easy we forget etc...no need to get seriously discouraged though

it's all part of the thing we want todo - training is needed and your doing it! Trying to remember is part of it and seeing ourselves remembering etc -

What I do is find a few things in my WL that I know I do a lot and I use those things to " trigger me " into questioning my state - I don't change these things often because frankly I only just remember to use these on a regular basis so they are not at risk of becoming easy yet ...if they started to become easy targets and my questioning and RC etc became blazay then I would change them...you might try it as a simple version of the picking 3 different things that you are trying todo here above - and I really like your thing you mention above of picking something that you will be doing soon and telling your self you " will remember to RC at that time" - all these thing really help

I mostly use :

1-Staircases
2-Hallways
3-Blue cars
4-And of recent I am adding people - because I work with people and have many conversations I am doing my best to remind myself whenever I am in a conversation and looking at someone to let their face " trigger"" me to question myself internally about my state and even ask them telepathicly if they 'know this is a dream?'

Most times these days I remember without these things ...when I become spontaneously self aware or by using a reminding buzzer to bring that self awareness on my phone or a quiet moment whenever I go to the loo etc - these are a few ways ... I find mixing it up and changing the methods helps keep it relaxed for me

I'm Sure your finding your way with it

**Hirondelle** · 02-02-2016 09:09 AM

Hi Patience108, as I already mentioned, thanks for your extensive (? not sure about the word, but I'm sure you'll already know that English is not my native language and you'll understand

) answer.

I'm already mixing the methods, during the day I do RC's regularly when I think about it. At the moment I find this easy because there's not a lot going on in my life. It's a lot more difficult on a "busy" day.

I find it hard to do it when I'm with other people, can't imagine how you do that during a conversation, can't concentrate on the two things (conversation and RC) in the same time. Being a woman I'm supposed to be able to multitask but, no, not really

**Hirondelle** · 02-04-2016 10:17 AM

Well, it's good for my self-confidence, picking one target maximum half a day ahead. Every time I get it, I'm very happy about myself :-). (Apart from this I do RC at random moments as well)

I read somewhere that it could help if you squeeze your right fist when setting a target. Later on, when you think you don't remember the target, squeeze you left fist, and it would come back to you.... Haven't really tried that yet.

What I also did, with the thought in my head that if it doesn't help it will not hurt either, is installing subliminal messages on my computer. I know that their influence is proved in advertising, so why not. I think you could describe it as setting intentions in your subconscious mind. The first night after I started the program I remembered more dreams than ever in two months time. None in the next night :-( (Mind of a Winner)

**DreamSwimmer** · 02-08-2016 03:05 AM

Hi i struggled with prospective memory for a few weeks but it eventually got easier. Once my prospective memory was good enough i stopped doing the excercises and told myself 'I will remember to do reality checks' and now everytime i see the past weeks targets such as a red car i automatically remember to do a RC.

**Hirondelle** · 02-09-2016 04:01 PM

That's great! The method really worked for you!

**Hirondelle** · 02-25-2016 06:47 PM

A little update from the OP: I just didn't succeed in doing this exercise, really started to doubt my mental abilities

I thought that I'd never get there....... Well, apparently not this way!

In the past week I did have a WILD, even two

**BadAssLongCoat** · 02-26-2016 01:32 AM

Originally Posted by Hirondelle

TDHXIII: I think I'll have to try like you. Sometimes, I can't even think of the four just 15 minutes later. Maybe start with two and build up to three and four when it seems to be working.

Have you tried meditating on them in the mornings? I have begun meditation, though mostly at night and it is helping my memory hugely.
I find that meditating while thinking of something helps me to "embed" it into my conscious brain for a good amount of time.
My morning routine goes as such, wake, keep eyes closed, recall last dream, meditate on it for a few minutes, did I have any other dreams?, meditate on those, dream journal, (If I don't have work early I try and WBTB at this point), meditate for as long as possible before my shower and other regular daily routines. If I were practising this exercise of yours I would think to slot it in before meditation and I would maybe repeat a mantra like "My targets for today are ..." "I will experience them today" "I will Check each time I experience these things".

Just an idea.

**Hirondelle** · 02-26-2016 11:34 AM

Thanks for reacting BadAssLongCoat!

I reason I started the exercise was because I wanted to improve my progressive memory.

The underlying reason was that I want to have lucid dreams.

In the past week I had two WILD's! At the moment I don't feel the need in continuing this. Some of the other things I do seem to be working..... and that motivates me to go on like that!

**Smudgefish** · 02-28-2016 11:04 AM

Thanks for this thread, it's given me another pointer to obtaining lucidity.

If anyone is interested I have found a free android app called 'Prospector'. It gives you 4 things to look out for every day and allows you to track how many times you respond. It's very simple but seems to work ok and I'm using it for the second day today.

Today I'm remembering to RC when I see a dog, eat lunch, eat supper and if I see a red car. Got one already - he was sitting outside the bedroom after I read the list this morning! it will be a different list tomorrow.

I will report back if it gives me any results.

**DarkSyntax** · 06-07-2016 08:58 AM

I have decided to pick up on this excercise and i've been working on it for the past few days. I chose 2 targets to look out for and so far it's working fine, i noticed that i seem to catch my targets when it's too late though. I'll keep this up and see what happens.