What I do is focus on my breathing. Oh man that ITCH.. I hate it lol but I just ignore it the best I can and focus on my breathing and before I know it I'm in a dream.. Oh also I do this 3rd eye focus thing where I just focus on the middle of my forehead and for some reason it's like a hyperdrive button into a dream. From what I read the technique is to put your index finger in the middle of your forehead and pull away about 3 inches and then close your eyes but keep them centered as if you were still looking at your finger. Your eyes will naturally jump kind of like rem but keep them focused. I don't know why this helps but it really does. Good luck.