How Can I become lucid on a busy schedule?

I've got two small children, I work late and get up early, I have very little (or absolutely no) "me" time, and I'm so tired, I don't have the energy to get up at 6am for an hour long WBTB only to have to get up, what...45 minutes later?! I've been trying to lucid dream for months, since joining this site in December last year, but still no luck. And I think it's because I'm not trying hard enough. But how can I? Is there an easy (or easier) solution? I sometimes think I've gone beyond that point in my life where I can lucid dream. Oh, and when I wake up, I often wake up "quickly" because my youngest daughter wakes me up with crying or fussing...this kills dream recall!

If this helps anyone in giving advice:
I get up at around 7:30am when my daughters wake up. My wife is not good with mornings, so I take care of the girls until around 10am. From the time my wife wakes up to the time I go to work, there's either dishes to be done, bathrooms to be cleaned, or some other chore around the house. Sometimes I get out of the house and get groceries, or do small errands. And even when there is "down" time, I cannot nap for more than 10 or 15 minutes without my oldest daughter coming to wake me up. There have been a couple of times I got to sleep for an hour! Even then, my wife doesn't like me sleeping too long because she misses out on time with me then. So, how do you prepare for lucid dreaming when the schedule won't allow for it? Is there some other way?
In all fairness, I don't RC as often as I should. Not nearly as often. Would doing more RC's alone increase my chances of a LD? I wear a watch which beeps on the hour, but I often miss hearing the beep. And I pinch my nose as often as I think of it (when something "dreamlike" occurs).

I've even stopped dream journaling because I couldn't keep up with making entries. I'd voice record my dreams upon awakening, and find that I had three or more entries to type when I got around to doing it. My home life is just to crazy! Please give me some advice!

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Originally Posted by Paradox-db3

In all fairness, I don't RC as often as I should. Not nearly as often. Would doing more RC's alone increase my chances of a LD? I wear a watch which beeps on the hour, but I often miss hearing the beep. And I pinch my nose as often as I think of it (when something "dreamlike" occurs).

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This is probably your BIGGEST problem. You don't even need to WBTB to end up lucid multiple times a week. Don't waste that precious time, but instead put in the effort while awake.

Here's an idea that comes to mind, though:

Have you tried getting your family interested in dreams/dreaming? Getting your girls interested in either dreaming in general (if you don't want to talk about LDing) or LDing itself? You could have family dream times where you guys discuss dreaming, figure out each others' dream signs, something like that? You may be able to increase their interest in dreams, furthering your amount of dream discussion IRL. Also, they may gain an understanding and respect for how you would like to wake up in the morning, and not wake you up the way they do anymore. Of course I don't know the age of your girls. Are they old enough to where they should not be waking you up like that?

My girls are 3 years old and 4 months old! Still too young to even understand what a dream is, let alone talk about it in detail. Good thought, though! And my wife knows about lucid dreaming. She gets about 10-12 hours of sleep a night...I think she'd be a perfect candidate for LDing! But it's just not in interest of hers. And I'm not the kind of person who pushes people to like what I like. I respect her interests, even if I don't find them...interesting?

So, you think I can still LD without any other preparations (other than RCing during the day)?

God yes. Keeping a dream journal and finding your dream signs helps. Getting enough sleep certainly helps. But on five hours of sleep with no WBTB or anything, and no DJ except for random days when I had time and could write up a dream (mostly only lucids), reality checking alone got me plenty of LDs a month.

You could try recording dreams in the night, when you wake up from them peacefully and naturally and have a moment to jot them down. This shouldn't disrupt your sleep at all, just some quick notes and keywords will work wonders and eliminate the problem of the kids and wife.

Thanks for the encouragement! I will get back into dream journalling and reality checking!

Yup, exactly what shift said. And you ask how you can become lucid on a busy schedule? If you have time to SLEEP, then you have time have lucid dreams.

But isn't it easier if you have plenty of rest?
I also have his kind of problem, I have a hard time falling asleep early since I enjoy my "awakened" life. I usually go to sleep around 12. And I wake up at 6h30 every morning to go to work.

Yes I have to sleep more I know.
But let's pretend that it is impossible in my situation.

I was sort of in the same situation as you (milder, of course being as I'm a teenager) in terms of a busy schedule with school and college preperation (stress upon stress) so I, too, had a difficult time.

I'm not an expert, but I think the main thing you should work on is what Shift pointed out, and do A LOT of RC's. A lot a lot. Have you checked out his thread?

http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=74059

I've been doing that recently, and the amount of RC's I've been doing have doubled. I'm remembering more and more to do them each day, so that puts me in a better and more probable position to achieve a DILD. I think that would be your best bet. Since naps are out of the question, DILDs would probably be the one to go to since you fall asleep, LD, and then wake up. I understand your dream recall can be difficult sometimes due to your little daughter waking you up "quickly", but I still believe DILD would be your best choice.

I hope that helped in some way, shape or form! good luck friend! Remember we're in the same boat!

Thanks for the info! Yeah, I think RCs are going to have to ramp up a bit...I mean a LOT!