Terrible recall, no motivation to write down dreams

**Arra** · 04-02-2011 11:37 PM

A couple months ago, I was remembering multiple long detailed dreams every night thanks to my dream journal. But for about a month now I've just stopped writing down my dreams. There are a few problems that seem to be causing this.

One problem (and maybe the basis of the others) is motivation. It's easy for me to say right now that I'll start to dedicate time to writing down dreams in the morning, but I seem to say that every day, and never actually do it. When the time actually comes in the morning, even when the problems described below aren't an issue, I couldn't care less about writing down my dreams. I just want to get of bed and start my day. A few times, maybe 1.5 times per week, I've forced myself to write down the little I can remember, but not often enough to increase my recall.

Another problem is that, I've been lacking sleep on weekdays and overlseeping on weekends. I'll get 6 hours of sleep because I have to wake up early for school, and reset the alarm multiple times becuase I'm so tired I'll only get out of bed when I absolutely have to. And when I finally do wake up I have to rush to get ready for school and have no time to think about dreams.

Then on weekends, I tend to wake up at whatever time I've set my alarm clock to, having gotten 8 hours of sleep, and feel completely awake. When I decide to lie in bed and think about my dreams, my mind usually drifts very quickly. Within seconds I'll find myself thinking about something unrelated to dreams, and after I remind myself a few times to actually think about the dreams, drifting off again within seconds each time, a few minutes have passed, and by then I've mostly forgotten the dreams. Eventually, I usually fall back asleep, even though I didn't feel tired. So that method of laying still in bed while thinking about dreams just doesn't seem to work for me.

It seems there's obvious advice I'd give myself, or give someone else who had this same problem, but it's difficult when it's actually happening to me. I can't seem to summon the motivation to even try anymore, even though I want to LD very badly, and that seems like a contradiction. The problem isn't just with recall, it's with my willingness to practice other LD techniques, but recall is where it starts so that's why I'm focusing on that first. I already tried taking a break for a week, then coming back, but that didn't work. It seems like I'm stuck in this cycle and can't get out of it.

**Raphael** · 04-03-2011 12:18 AM

On days that you work you should set your alarm giving you an extra few minutes to write down your dream(s) that you remember. I was going to recommend using a voice recorder instead, but I'm guessing you don't want to do that since it requires some work as well.

What I do, and it works well for me, is I jot down very key words/small sentences that I remember from my dreams. It doesn't have to be in super detail or anything, you can fill that in later when you have the energy. These key words you write down should be able to remind you of what happened in the dream in much more depth, when you have the time to sit and think about it. The most important thing is to be consistent with it though, it doesn't take that much effort to take the time to do it every morning. Even if you just scribble some words on a paper for 10 seconds with your face in the pillow.

**Vertebrate** · 04-03-2011 12:31 AM

I've got the same problem. I don't know about the motivational aspects though. I'm a computer programmer so I usually end up thinking about some program or something when I wake up. Maybe you and I could try some "shared dreaming" sometime and see how it works out.

**MoonLiteNite** · 04-03-2011 02:15 AM

I 100% HATE writing.
I never wrote down any dreams, i would just explain to myself my dream as i was waking up.
That and RCs and it took me aroud 2 months to have pretty good long lasting lucid dreams...

**Suena** · 04-06-2011 09:03 PM

I have been doing just as Raphael suggested and seems to be working for the most part. So far, I haven't forgotten to write something down, been using it for a week now. Probelm for me is, right after I wake up, it's like I didn't have any dreams. I know I did, and throughout the day, I just get small flashbacks that vanish instantly. Anyway, I use an agenda book and I keep it right by my alarm clock. Every night, before I go to sleep, I write in the daily goals what I want to do, which for now is to remember my dreams. The agenda works really well for me, so I would reccommend it. Good luck.

**Chimpertainment** · 04-09-2011 07:02 PM

Looks like you are having a hard time developing discipline. There are many ways to build up that quality. You are probably experiencing your mind rejecting this new practice because its not part of the easy routine. I speak from personal experience on this one and it isnt easy. Nothing truly valuable is gained with ease.
Try other activities of discipline like meditation, exercise, learning an instrument. Doing something you like that requires discipline will help you with that.
Your mind knows this is going to be one of the hardest things you have ever done. Work with it and overcome it in whatever way possible. We can't help you when it counts so you need to be some independent strength. Good luck!

**Chimpertainment** · 04-09-2011 07:04 PM

Added Note: You probably experienced good results to begin with because it was new and exciting but now it has become somewhat commonplace. You have to overcome that part of yourself that wants to move on when excitement dies. You know it will be helpful in the long run, so keep that in mind also.

**FallenAwake** · 04-18-2011 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by Chimpertainment

Try other activities of discipline like meditation, exercise, learning an instrument. Doing something you like that requires discipline will help you with that.

That tip makes incredible sense. It points to the relationships between self-awareness and discipline. What do I enjoy? Do I enjoy it to the extent that the enjoyment will continue for enough time to develop more discipline with this bootstrapping method?

It also brings up overindulgence and burning out vs inaction. Finding the discipline that is your balance between them can be challenging. Or at least acting on it can be.

Often a type of discipline comes from emotional repression of self, but this tip seems like it could facilitate the integration of self-awareness and discipline.