Dream Journal at Midnight?

Hello everyone, I have a question about my dream journal. So basically I have to wake up in the middle of the night so I can record what happened in my dream(s)? Well, I woke up two times the last night when I started my dream journal and this was because I heard some guy screaming outside and I begun to record my dream and the second time I just randomly woke up. So what my main question is, do I have to wake up in the middle of the night to wright in my dream journal and should I use an alarm clock to wake me up or is there some other way? Thanks!

astralization,

If you can remember your dreams when you wake up naturally in the morning, you could just write down those ones and not bother about waking up in the night. You don't need to remember every single dream you have, even just one a night would be something! :)

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Originally Posted by Taromon777

If you can remember your dreams when you wake up naturally in the morning, you could just write down those ones and not bother about waking up in the night. You don't need to remember every single dream you have, even just one a night would be something! :)

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I guess so, I will try that and if I don't remember it when I wake up I heard that if you lie back down, it will come back to you.

Well, ideally, it would be to only take notes in the middle of the night, so your sleep isn't bothered, then later on you check the notes in case you forgot anything and start journaling.

I use a tape recorder when I wake up in the middle of the night. I quietly say my dream into it. Then in the morning I write it down on the computer from the tape recorder. It's a lot easier than having to write stuff down.

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Originally Posted by Walms

Well, ideally, it would be to only take notes in the middle of the night, so your sleep isn't bothered, then later on you check the notes in case you forgot anything and start journaling.

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This is basically what I do if I can remember but I usually do the notes when I wake up in the morning so I can write it down later when I get home. Just seeing a couple of words of what I wrote makes me pretty much remember the whole dream.

+1 for Tape Recorders

I actually use a digital voice recorder... cost me 40 bucks, and I couldn't be happier.
PROS:
* You don't need to deal with bad handwriting(big problem for me)
* You don't need to turn on a light which might make it harder to get back to sleep; you don't even need to open your eyes!
* Takes a LOT less time to record, which encourages me to record more details.
* If you fall asleep during the DJ, you get a good 30 mins of sleep breathing on record :lol:
CONS:
* You can't see it; you have to listen to it.



As for midnight vs morning, I'd definitely recommend recording any dream as soon as you wake from it. I have generally very good dream recall, but when I do it right away, I can be MUCH more detailed.

One interesting side-effect: sometimes when I awake particularly tired, my mind is still so involved in the dream that it seems to keep fabricating 'backstory' as I recall, even though I'm not dreaming anymore...

+2 for the tape recorded.

I love mine too. It has really got me back into dreaming!

Thanks for all the reply's guys, I need to buy a tape recorder. So I should write down all my dreams from the tape recorder onto a journal to better access my dreams?

Like the guy said above, you can just write down notes or key ideas of a dream. Try just writing down the main themes, characters, and emotions of your dream.

If you don't want to do that, what I often do is just review the dream a few times in my head. I point out the key details and intend to remember them. Usually if I can remember just one of them I can trace back the whole dream later on.

As for tape recorders, I've never tried it.

I wake myself up without an alarm clock, and write down the entire dream. My early dreams are consistently vivid and adventurous, so I like to record them while fresh.