Thread: Pornocrates's Workbook

Hi DV members!

I'm Pornocrates, a 21yo student (third year now, I'll be graduating in a month or so) living in Paris. I've been interested in LDing since August 2014 when I bumped into the subreddit /rLucidDreaming and bought ETWOLD. I read it then and have been rereading chapters since to make sure I didn't forget anything and to strengthen my practice. I read a lot on the internet (DV, reddit) and I also read Robert Waggoner's Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self.

Before knowing about LDing, I hardly remembered my dreams, apart from a few that were really vivid. In high school I slept around 6 hours a night and I would need 5 mins to fall asleep (no wonder...). In uni, I slept much more but had the same level of DR. As soon as I took up LDing as my main goal I started having vivid dreams.

I have a good DR going from 1 dream when I don't journal seriously to a max of 6-7 (lots of awakenings) with an average of 4 when I practice diligently. I used to write down each time I woke up but lately I relied a lot on my vocal recorder. It's convenient because I don't skip on recording my dreams just because I feel drowsy. However, I feel like it's himpering my DR since I don't have to focus so much on the dream I just speak quickly and I'm done. I feel that when I write (since we write slower than we think) I recall a lot more details and the recorded dreams make more sense on paper. During my first year on the lucid path I would focus a lot more on DJing and my DR in general. I think I need to work more on the basics.

I'm focusing on the MILD technique, although for the first year I didn't chose one and therefore I took a lot of time before having my first LD. I'm DJing, training my prospective memory with targets I have to notice everyday. I also like the ADA, SA approach since I've always had a strong interest in meditation (esp. zazen) and more recently mindfulness.

I'm a fairly anxious individual and I tend to put too much stress on things, that would be a good thing to know! I always try to bite more than I can chew and I lack consistency in my efforts and motivation.

In the first year I had 2-3 LDs. During my second year I had around 8. 3 in april. I feel like I had a major breakthrough because I induced 2 of them and I've had more prelucid dreams (with hints or clues). I didn't really find what worked for me and that's one of the reasons why I'm creating my workbook here.

I'm really happy to be part of this community and to be able to communicate with its members! I hope I'll be able to provide as much help as I've received just by going through posts

Thanks for giving us rookies such a good opportunity to learn to be lucid!

Nice to see you have created a workbook Pornocrates. Welcome! I love traveling to Paris, and France in general. We now have 3 quite recently added workbooks from French members! I try to speak broken French when I travel there, but it's pretty poor, so it's convenient that you all have great English skills.

Originally Posted by Pornocrates

I have a good DR going from 1 dream when I don't journal seriously to a max of 6-7 (lots of awakenings) with an average of 4 when I practice diligently. I used to write down each time I woke up but lately I relied a lot on my vocal recorder. It's convenient because I don't skip on recording my dreams just because I feel drowsy. However, I feel like it's himpering my DR since I don't have to focus so much on the dream I just speak quickly and I'm done. I feel that when I write (since we write slower than we think) I recall a lot more details and the recorded dreams make more sense on paper.

Yes, I read an article this month regarding a study that showed this is the case. Just google: psyblog^handwriting
The same psyblog site has two articles regarding drawing images and visualizing images as being great for memory recall and avoiding false memories. That said, I also use voice to record my DJ. I use a voice to text function.

I'm focusing on the MILD technique, although for the first year I didn't chose one and therefore I took a lot of time before having my first LD. I'm DJing, training my prospective memory with targets I have to notice everyday. I also like the ADA, SA approach since I've always had a strong interest in meditation (esp. zazen) and more recently mindfulness.

I'm a fairly anxious individual and I tend to put too much stress on things, that would be a good thing to know! I always try to bite more than I can chew and I lack consistency in my efforts and motivation.

Mindfulness is great for slowly working through the anxiety and stress as you get better and better at catching those processes before they start to really affect you. Focus on breathing is also great for stress as you will find that you notice when you are starting to breath shallow and/or fast, as is common when we are stressed out. Regarding techniques, I alternate between MILD and SSILD. SSILD gave me most of my LD's, but I was mostly only doing SSILD (as my nighttime practice that is) for the first 1.5 to 2 years I'd say. Of course I was doing a lot of day practices as well (and I still do a good number of day practices).

In the first year I had 2-3 LDs. During my second year I had around 8. 3 in april. I feel like I had a major breakthrough because I induced 2 of them and I've had more prelucid dreams (with hints or clues). I didn't really find what worked for me and that's one of the reasons why I'm creating my workbook here.

Very nice! What do you feel was helping you most with your breakthrough? Tracking your progress and what works for you here in the workbook is a great idea, and of course we can give you feedback as well.

I'm really happy to be part of this community and to be able to communicate with its members! I hope I'll be able to provide as much help as I've received just by going through posts

Thanks for giving us rookies such a good opportunity to learn to be lucid!

Glad to have you as part of this community! Here's to many lucid dreaming experiences ahead!

Originally Posted by fogelbise

Nice to see you have created a workbook Pornocrates. Welcome! I love traveling to Paris, and France in general. We now have 3 quite recently added workbooks from French members! I try to speak broken French when I travel there, but it's pretty poor, so it's convenient that you all have great English skills.

I didn't notice the third one, I'll be sure to check it out! Well, if you ever want to test your french with me, it'd be a pleasure! Thanks for the compliment, I've been training my english for a while now (plus: I'm a language learning enthusiast)!

Yes, I read an article this month regarding a study that showed this is the case. Just google: psyblog^handwriting
The same psyblog site has two articles regarding drawing images and visualizing images as being great for memory recall and avoiding false memories. That said, I also use voice to record my DJ. I use a voice to text function.

Thanks for the articles, I just found one about memory and handwriting, it was really interesting. I might try to use my voice recorder only when I feel really too drowsy to write anything but yeah I think I'll get back to writing (at least the next day), because right now I've got 2 weeks worth of dreams to record in my DJ (I'm really good at procrastinating )... I could try to find an app with a voice to text function as well!

Mindfulness is great for slowly working through the anxiety and stress as you get better and better at catching those processes before they start to really affect you. Focus on breathing is also great for stress as you will find that you notice when you are starting to breath shallow and/or fast, as is common when we are stressed out. Regarding techniques, I alternate between MILD and SSILD. SSILD gave me most of my LD's, but I was mostly only doing SSILD (as my nighttime practice that is) for the first 1.5 to 2 years I'd say. Of course I was doing a lot of day practices as well (and I still do a good number of day practices).

Yeah it is, I've been using it for stress reduction (currently reading Full catastrophe living: how to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindfulness meditation by Jon Kabat-Zinn) and I practice buddhist meditation (Zazen) from time to time, but even though you shouldn't put stress on meditation I know that a consistent practice would really help me with pretty much everything. Is it true that in regards to LDing, Self Awareness is far more important than the technique described as ADA, or just plain mindfulness? I have hard time grabbing the concept of SA, and I don't really know how to practice it. SSILD looks definitelty interesting so I might give it a shot to get a bit of variety in my induction techniques.

Very nice! What do you feel was helping you most with your breakthrough? Tracking your progress and what works for you here in the workbook is a great idea, and of course we can give you feedback as well.

Well first I think it's linked to the fact that I've been using autosuggestion techniques a lot more, mantras like "I'm dreaming" before going to sleep, I find that if I managed to keep saying it until I fell asleep, lucidity is not hard to attain. The thing is until recently it always kept me awake and I thought it wasn't a good thing so I stopped and focused on falling asleep before trying again but I always forgot. But a few weeks ago, I thought "Okay, let's do this thoroughly" and it eventually worked!

Glad to have you as part of this community! Here's to many lucid dreaming experiences ahead!

Thank you a lot, I really hope so!

Originally Posted by Pornocrates

I have hard time grabbing the concept of SA, and I don't really know how to practice it. SSILD looks definitelty interesting so I might give it a shot to get a bit of variety in my induction techniques.

On SSILD: yes, definitely give it a good 30 day test once you are ready. On SA: I notice that when I stop practicing SA, if I become lucid it is closer to the semi-lucid end of the spectrum and more prone to forgetting that I am dreaming shortly after. It does take some time to grasp. One thing that helped me in a way that I don't completely understand is the finger(s) on face or nose technique mentioned in the "My lucid dreaming journey" link in my signature.

Well first I think it's linked to the fact that I've been using autosuggestion techniques a lot more, mantras like "I'm dreaming" before going to sleep, I find that if I managed to keep saying it until I fell asleep, lucidity is not hard to attain. The thing is until recently it always kept me awake and I thought it wasn't a good thing so I stopped and focused on falling asleep before trying again but I always forgot. But a few weeks ago, I thought "Okay, let's do this thoroughly" and it eventually worked!

Nice! A lot of induction techniques work in this way. You just have to find the way to make them work for you through trial and error.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

On SSILD: yes, definitely give it a good 30 day test once you are ready. On SA: I notice that when I stop practicing SA, if I become lucid it is closer to the semi-lucid end of the spectrum and more prone to forgetting that I am dreaming shortly after. It does take some time to grasp. One thing that helped me in a way that I don't completely understand is the finger(s) on face or nose technique mentioned in the "My lucid dreaming journey" link in my signature.

Nice! A lot of induction techniques work in this way. You just have to find the way to make them work for you through trial and error.

I might dedicate may to SSILD, until then no induction techniques SA is really great I can feel it working but it's challenging, I was really stressed the last days because of my exams so sometimes when I realized I haven't been doing SA I get really discouraged and I feel like there's no point (I know it's related to the exams only but it still gets to me :/).
Do you mean the moustache stroking one? I'm not sure I read the good thing haha!

That's right, you learn way more from failure than from success (success is nice though... )!

I got lucid at the end of my night (around 10-10:30), it lasted only a few moments, something weird happened. I was highly conscious I remembered my goal and I had difficulty going through a window (that's a good indicated of the degree of consciousness, in semi lucids I don't ask myself these questions, I don't struggle to control the dream), but even though I was already grounded once I flew to a rooftop I decided to stabilize by looking at my hands, they were all wobbly, I looked for a few seconds and woke up. It often does that in fully lucids but it went really fast this time! I think I woke up because my gf moved.

Anyway, I'm really happy I had a LD though, I didn't even use my "I'm dreaming mantra" instead I stretched to get the tension out (on of the exercices in ETWLD not the points one), I did some conscious breathing and then I used a mantra I found in one of the posts Fryingman recommends, I think it was Memm's post, the mantra was "I'm resting, not sleeping and forgetting"!

Yay!

Originally Posted by Pornocrates

Do you mean the moustache stroking one? I'm not sure I read the good thing haha!

Yes, that is the one.

I got lucid at the end of my night (around 10-10:30), it lasted only a few moments, something weird happened. I was highly conscious I remembered my goal and I had difficulty going through a window (that's a good indicated of the degree of consciousness, in semi lucids I don't ask myself these questions, I don't struggle to control the dream), but even though I was already grounded once I flew to a rooftop I decided to stabilize by looking at my hands, they were all wobbly, I looked for a few seconds and woke up. It often does that in fully lucids but it went really fast this time! I think I woke up because my gf moved.

Anyway, I'm really happy I had a LD though, I didn't even use my "I'm dreaming mantra" instead I stretched to get the tension out (on of the exercices in ETWLD not the points one), I did some conscious breathing and then I used a mantra I found in one of the posts Fryingman recommends, I think it was Memm's post, the mantra was "I'm resting, not sleeping and forgetting"!

Yay!

Awesome! Congratulations on the LD!! Just imagine what you can do when the stress is behind you!

I just wanted to say thank you for helping me and good luck
I hope this Workbook will help you

Originally Posted by Raziiel

I just wanted to say thank you for helping me and good luck
I hope this Workbook will help you

Thank you a lot Raziiel and don't mention it, I learnt a lot from you workbook!

Welcome to the DILD class! Quick note: I used to both voice record upon waking *and* transcribe the notes to written form later in the day. When I was doing both I got lucid fairly frequently (according to my usual frequency). And the notes were very detailed and the recall was long. So doing both I think is really beneficial.

What I found was that in doing this, I very often did not need to even refer to the voice notes in order to write up the journal entry perfectly. Something about speaking in to the recorder helped to really burn the memories into my mind, even across multiple wakings.

Now, more often I try to journal mentally during the night so that I remember my dreams through multiple wakings in the morning. Doesn't always work perfectly, but I find that with doing this for a while, I got better at it over time.

The point of this is that I believe it is the act of mentally reviewing the dream many times in your head that is the single most important part of building recall, more than speaking, more than writing in a DJ.

Sometimes I just try to remember a single image from each scene, and often that's enough to recall the entire scene and flow of scenes in detail. Together with the mental image I apply a key word or a phrase, then run over the list of key words/phrases repeatedly, "seeing" the image that goes with the phrase as I go over them.

Those are some various ways you can approach recall.

If you haven't yet, check out the sticky posts at the top of this class on some really good forum theads to read about. I also have some links in my signature that I think are very helpful, check 'em out!

Originally Posted by FryingMan

Welcome to the DILD class! Quick note: I used to both voice record upon waking *and* transcribe the notes to written form later in the day. When I was doing both I got lucid fairly frequently (according to my usual frequency). And the notes were very detailed and the recall was long. So doing both I think is really beneficial.

What I found was that in doing this, I very often did not need to even refer to the voice notes in order to write up the journal entry perfectly. Something about speaking in to the recorder helped to really burn the memories into my mind, even across multiple wakings.

Now, more often I try to journal mentally during the night so that I remember my dreams through multiple wakings in the morning. Doesn't always work perfectly, but I find that with doing this for a while, I got better at it over time.

The point of this is that I believe it is the act of mentally reviewing the dream many times in your head that is the single most important part of building recall, more than speaking, more than writing in a DJ.

Sometimes I just try to remember a single image from each scene, and often that's enough to recall the entire scene and flow of scenes in detail. Together with the mental image I apply a key word or a phrase, then run over the list of key words/phrases repeatedly, "seeing" the image that goes with the phrase as I go over them.

Those are some various ways you can approach recall.

If you haven't yet, check out the sticky posts at the top of this class on some really good forum theads to read about. I also have some links in my signature that I think are very helpful, check 'em out!

I've already read a few but I'll be sure to check the others!
Well for example I tried to memorize last night's dreams but couldn't remember something more than "destruction". Thing is I often remember a lot of stuff but I'm really bad at lying on my bed still and trying to gasp what I lost. Most of the time, a few bits come back while I'm just going along with the day. The image/dream association could help a lot, I'll try! In my last DJ I try to write correctly, so I rewrite the dreams or I record them the next day, I don't always find the courage to write afterwards but at least it feels really nice to read through the DJ!

BTW, thanks for the answers guys!

Recall gets better with practice! Once your mind finally catches on that recall is very important to you, you'll start remembering more, as long as you make a habit on every waking to reach for the memories first thing. Consistency and dedication are important.

Also be sure to check out Zinn's other book "wherever you go there you are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life."

I think for lucid dreaming, mindfulness and self awareness are largely the same thing. After all, they're all about determining/recognizing the truth of your current experience. But for lucid dreaming, additionally, you need to add in a sense of critical reflection along with strong intention to get lucid in the dream state.
That's wh I emphasize the Winning formula consists of: attention, reflection, and recall.

I'm not a fan of traditional ADA since it places the emphasis outside the self on the environment.

I like to say instead practice AAD: aware, all day

Originally Posted by FryingMan

Recall gets better with practice! Once your mind finally catches on that recall is very important to you, you'll start remembering more, as long as you make a habit on every waking to reach for the memories first thing. Consistency and dedication are important.

Also be sure to check out Zinn's other book "wherever you go there you are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life."

I think for lucid dreaming, mindfulness and self awareness are largely the same thing. After all, they're all about determining/recognizing the truth of your current experience. But for lucid dreaming, additionally, you need to add in a sense of critical reflection along with strong intention to get lucid in the dream state.
That's wh I emphasize the Winning formula consists of: attention, reflection, and recall.

I'm not a fan of traditional ADA since it places the emphasis outside the self on the environment.

I like to say instead practice AAD: aware, all day

Thanks FryingMan, as always great piece of advice! I might make my LDing practice revolve much more around mindfulness, meditation and awareness: two birds, 1 stone.

Anyway, for the the next month I will focus on DR and awareness and cut down a bit on MILD and LDing induction in general, finals in 2 weeks. That way, I'll come back at full power for the holidays.

We all must account for waking life responsibilities and duties. But a hint: there is no better time to have an "mindful moment" than when deeply involved in something. Because that's what happens in dreams usually: we're so immersed in the plot and reacting that we never stop to consider what's going on and whether or not this is a dream experience. Set realistic goals, but for example, try to do at least one "deep breath lucid moment" while in the middle of a test. Just set that goal, and see if you can't achieve it. That would be a major accomplishment!

Originally Posted by FryingMan

We all must account for waking life responsibilities and duties. But a hint: there is no better time to have an "mindful moment" than when deeply involved in something. Because that's what happens in dreams usually: we're so immersed in the plot and reacting that we never stop to consider what's going on and whether or not this is a dream experience. Set realistic goals, but for example, try to do at least one "deep breath lucid moment" while in the middle of a test. Just set that goal, and see if you can't achieve it. That would be a major accomplishment!

I think that's the most important part of mindfulness, staying mindful while doing something that requires all your attention and I really believe that if you manage to do that a lot, you'll get way more LDs
I'm saying that to you but I can't even do it ^^
I made an internship and I need to write an activity report, I'm trying to stay mindful while working on it but I always forget that and go in autopilot mode for hours and then I realize that I was lost in my thought ^^

Originally Posted by FryingMan

We all must account for waking life responsibilities and duties. But a hint: there is no better time to have an "mindful moment" than when deeply involved in something. Because that's what happens in dreams usually: we're so immersed in the plot and reacting that we never stop to consider what's going on and whether or not this is a dream experience. Set realistic goals, but for example, try to do at least one "deep breath lucid moment" while in the middle of a test. Just set that goal, and see if you can't achieve it. That would be a major accomplishment!

I think that's the most important part of mindfulness, staying mindful while doing something that requires all your attention and I really believe that if you manage to do that a lot, you'll get way more LDs
I'm saying that to you but I can't even do it ^^
I made an internship and I need to write an activity report, I'm trying to stay mindful while working on it but I always forget that and go in autopilot mode for hours and then I realize that I was lost in my thought ^^

I always do, that's one of the main goals I set when RCing, whenever I fell strong emotions when I feel I'm completely focused on something I RC!
However I should maybe pay more attention to it, I've been spending too much time on auto pilot lately!

I think it's great, by the way, that the new DILD class members are actively participating on each other's pages. Making lucid buddies to help keep each other motivated and giving each other challenges and support is very helpful! The several Parisians may even make a goal to meet up (perhaps for a few boules at Berthillon on Ile St. Louis? Best ice cream ever!) J'ai etudie Francais cinque ans dans l'ecole, mais oublie presque tout!

I find that I can remain mindful during non-taxing activities most of the time after working on it (on and off) for a few years now. It's the 1) conversations, and 2) intellectual work situations where I frequently lose it. So yes, it's the times where you tend to go on autopilot where you need to put the most effort. It takes time, but eventually your brain will start to notice, more and more, when you've lost it and give you a little nudge, "hey, it's time to come back now! Attention is pretty darned good with me. It's the reflection where I'm lacking much of the time. So that's more of my focus these days.

Something else to all the new class members: setting concrete goals is really important (this is also from LaBerge). When our brain's goal-seeking center is active, it can really help get you lucid (and achieve other goals as well). For example: my "average" LD rate is about 1 LD per 5-6 days. But at the last 10 days of February I set a goal to have 10 LDs. I ended up having 6, 6 LDs/10 days is really good for me. I had set really strong intention and made this a very important goal for me. Intention, focus, goals, these are another aspect of LD practice, just as important in many ways as the "big 3" (attention/awareness, critical reflection, and recall/memory).

Originally Posted by FryingMan

I think it's great, by the way, that the new DILD class members are actively participating on each other's pages. Making lucid buddies to help keep each other motivated and giving each other challenges and support is very helpful! The several Parisians may even make a goal to meet up (perhaps for a few boules at Berthillon on Ile St. Louis? Best ice cream ever!) J'ai etudie Francais cinque ans dans l'ecole, mais oublie presque tout!

I find that I can remain mindful during non-taxing activities most of the time after working on it (on and off) for a few years now. It's the 1) conversations, and 2) intellectual work situations where I frequently lose it. So yes, it's the times where you tend to go on autopilot where you need to put the most effort. It takes time, but eventually your brain will start to notice, more and more, when you've lost it and give you a little nudge, "hey, it's time to come back now! Attention is pretty darned good with me. It's the reflection where I'm lacking much of the time. So that's more of my focus these days.

Something else to all the new class members: setting concrete goals is really important (this is also from LaBerge). When our brain's goal-seeking center is active, it can really help get you lucid (and achieve other goals as well). For example: my "average" LD rate is about 1 LD per 5-6 days. But at the last 10 days of February I set a goal to have 10 LDs. I ended up having 6, 6 LDs/10 days is really good for me. I had set really strong intention and made this a very important goal for me. Intention, focus, goals, these are another aspect of LD practice, just as important in many ways as the "big 3" (attention/awareness, critical reflection, and recall/memory).

I need yet to talk with the other parisian, but Raziiel and I met on the chat! I think it's a great idea too, it's highly motivating and really great to see the others improving! Nice french Fryingman! (Berthillon is delicious indeed!) A meet up would be nice!

Conversations are really hard I tried for a while but it's really challenging...

I remember this chapter from ETWOLD, I did set some goals in the past and it helped a bit but I never focused too much on these goals, wasn't serious about it I guess. Do you intend your goal like some king of mantra?
Btw, about mantras, I might have a question! How do you do when you want to set multiple intentions? For example: remember dreams, recognize awakening and RC, have a LD, resting and not sleeping, etc, etc... And do you try to always keep the same phrasing for your mantras? I find myself doubting about my personal mantras and changing them i don't know if it's important!

Habba: I actually didn't finish the first cycle, did the the short sight and sound ones and then I stopped. :p

I think falling asleep during the cycles is a good thing (but I mainly use MILD so that might be a mistake and not that great with SSILD), but it's better to really focus for a few cycles before I guess!

02/05 => 03/05 's night

I recall 4 dreams, some of them are fragments but I'm glad to see that when I put efforts in DR, my brain gets it! However I'm good at getting the plots but not details like the set up of places, faces, clothes, etc, etc... I'm going to try my best to improve my DR so as to properly and thoroughly describe the whole dream scene and characters.

I used my voice recorder, I still can't find the courage to grab my DJ and write, I'm going to put more emphasis on remaining still when waking up (might devote more attention to a mantra for this purpose)!

Last night I slept from ~2 to 9'30, recalled one long dream and a fragment (just a word actually, but had a particular feeling linked to it).

I clearly didn't sleep enough, although sometimes I happen to recall at least 3-4 dreams with the same amount of sleep.
I'd really like to go to bed earlier but when I do I can't sleep and most of the time I don't feel like going to bed before 1 AM. I wanted to try a MILD byt going back to bed after my waking but in the end didn't.

Thing is I put aside most of my activities:
I haven't been going to the gym in the last 2 weeks, and not really trying to induce LDs (even autosuggestion which is supposed to be my "chill LDing mode") because I decided to take a break to have more time to study... Obviously I didn't study more and I ended up getting all jittery because of the lack of activity (I kinda need sport to be able to calm down and focus).

I wanted to stop trying to induce LDs in order to avoid sleeping in (until noon). Concerning sport/gym: it's because although it takes maybe around 2 hours three times a week, I procrastinate and end up lazying around a lot before finding the courage and energy to go there. So the biggest problem I'm facing IWL which is brainblocking my LDs is (self) discipline obviously. I'm not satisfied with what I do during the day and end up in a vicious cycle, not doing any good for myself. (Sorry for the rant, I'm really angry against myself because I can't make progress, I'm always going in every directions at the same time...)

I'm really confused about something else as well:
Should I go to bed early or is ~1 ok? I know the most important thing is to have set schedules but I can't seem to keep them, and I'm kind of a night owl.
Idk if you can switch to early bird mode or if there are somewhat "profound natures" = Like I could sleep everyday around 10-11 PM and wake up around 7-8 but it would always be forced and the only mistake would mess up with the whole rhythm. If someone has/ has had the same issue and maybe found something (article, methode, etc) I'd be really interested. It would help not only for my LDing practice but also for my whole WL!

What I'm thinking about is maybe:
6:30 eat dinner
7:00 => 9:30 study
10:00 go to bed, read and meditation/relaxation
11:00 Sleep
5:00 to 6:00 or 6:30 to 7:30 WBTB
8-9 Waking up

This would be hard to set up and obviously it's just a draft (I have yet to determine the best time to sleep for me, the best time to do WBTB and how long). As for the schedules, I'm in Uni and soon on holiday so I have a lot of time and rarely need to wake up early.

TL;DR I'm really pumped about LDing and have been for more than two years with some success but I lack discipline, consistent efforts and obviously my WL issues are not helping. Need help with organization...

Another thing

I have recurrent dream signs like:
-My father's house and village
-All my schools
-Some people I don't see anymore

I can easily RC when I go to my uni but I mostly see my elementary school, my middle school and my high school, should I just RC when I see any school?
And for the persons I don't see? Should I just RC when I think about them?
What about my father's house (I spent almost all my childhood in this house and it's been one of my dream signs since I began recording my dreams and overall the most recurrent one), how should i use it?

I also think my LD goal might be way too difficult considering my dream control abilities.
I've been trying to incube when I go to sleep and when I RC (visualization) my dream workshop, I've pictured it so many times that I know the basic layout by heart. I chose the workshop, it's a big empty tree in a forest, inside: platforms, rooms, stairs and a cave with hot springs (It's a bit cliché and "Adventure Timesque" but I really like it, it gets me so excited and motivated to LD and there are many more things and ideas to come). I imagined myself in it or discovering it so many times that I actually built it mentally and therefore I know it's gonna be really close to what I picture. However, I had 2 LDs where I thought about going there but it requires too much control for me.

Should I switch to a more basic task like the ToTM first ones? Would it be possible that it actually blocks me since it is too difficult for now?

As to when to go to sleep -- you have to experiment. I find the earlier I go to sleep (and the longer I sleep), the more/better dreams I have, in general. I do not have issues going to sleep at bedtime, I usually fall asleep quickly.

As to when to RC: I think you should RC any time you *feel* like you should. Always pay attention to that impulse to check your state.

For frequent dream signs, I think doing daytime visualization/MILD helps. Visualize yourself in recent dreams or in the frequent location, see yourself in the dream noticing the dreamsign and telling yourself "I'm dreaming! I"m dreaming! I'm dreaming!" and going on to accomplish some LD goal.
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Originally Posted by FryingMan

As to when to go to sleep -- you have to experiment. I find the earlier I go to sleep (and the longer I sleep), the more/better dreams I have, in general. I do not have issues going to sleep at bedtime, I usually fall asleep quickly.

As to when to RC: I think you should RC any time you *feel* like you should. Always pay attention to that impulse to check your state.

For frequent dream signs, I think doing daytime visualization/MILD helps. Visualize yourself in recent dreams or in the frequent location, see yourself in the dream noticing the dreamsign and telling yourself "I'm dreaming! I"m dreaming! I'm dreaming!" and going on to accomplish some LD goal.

I wanted to do that during the last holidays I had, so I figure I would just try to avoid screens at night and that I wouldn't set alarms in order to find the best schedules but Idk if it's the way to go? Would you have any idea how to know your natural circadian rythm?

What I do when I find that I don't RC enough, is that I write a "C" on my hand and every time I see it I RC. I find myself really wondering if I'm awake when I RC, I don't consider not being dreaming or almost not.

Good idea for the visualization with frequent dream signs, I don't know why I didn't think of that...

Thanks as always FryingMan, btw I've been reading a bit of your DILD course workbook, it's really motivating to see someone as diligent as you with such good progress since the beginning!

Yes, dream sign visualization can be successful. I would just focus on the one most common dream sign that you can visualize clearly. I have used it successfully, mostly during WBTB or just before going to bed.

On the waking life and sleep issues, I don't have a lot of experience or expertise but for sleep see if this article helps: 10 Tips to Reset Your Internal Clock - Sleep Center - Everyday Health (seems the site is not selling anything but ads)

On the waking life issues, you mentioned getting angry at yourself. Catching any negative thought loops can be helped through mindfulness and meditation. Try to not criticize or judge yourself, just try to catch yourself when you are not thinking or acting optimally…more like "I was thinking this way…ah...good catch!" Not "I was thinking this way, why am I always making that mistake." It takes time for sure and simple breathing exercises help also. You will notice your breathing patterns change when you are not at the optimal state. A simple one exercise to start with is breathing in goodness, and breathing out any negatives with a cleansing breath. It can do wonders.