How to effectively Dream Journal

Welcome. Thank you for reading my tutorial for journaling your dreams. This method is to show a way to get the most possible out of your dream journal. It will help you understand things about your lucid journey and your recall journey.

What you need:
Dream Journal
Dream Goal Journal

Dream Journal

You already know what this is. You probably keep one. The reason you keep one is probably to increase recall. You know that a dream journal is the most effective way to increase recall. This is true, it really is amazing. I am not here to convince you to DJ though, :P I just want to show you what a good DJ has in it.

This is a format for a highly effective Dream Journal

Spoiler for Format:

Date:
Total sleep:
Daytime Techniques:
Lucid Techniques:
Recall Techniques:
Fell Asleep:
Dream Title:
Dream:
Awake:
Vividness: (scale of 1-15, 10 is waking life vividness)
Awareness: (1-10; or lucid)
Length: (how long it felt like! Because that matters)
Emotions:
Dream Signs:
Tags (optional):

"But Brandon! Why do you have all these things in your Dream Journal? That seems like a lot of work for no reason!" -Random voice from the crowd of people that are always around me asking me questions.

I shall give you a reason for all of these.

Date, total sleep
Obvious ones first. The date will allow you to look back from the days surrounding this DJ entry and see things like "I slept 1 hour the night before and it really effected my recall the night after". Total sleep works the same as well. You can see how more hours of sleep really effects your sleep and hopefully see an amount of time that is prime for you to sleep each night.

Daytime Techniques
The techniques you did throughout the day, not things that you do right before you go to bed. Note that these 3 are only at the beginning of the Whole DJ, not to be repeated for every dream. Anything below this will be repeated if you have multiple dreams.


Lucid and Recall Techniques
This is so you can look back at the techs that you are using for this night and see how it effected everything. Another obvious one, but an important one. Remember that LDing techniques can make your recall go up or down as well. So put that into consideration when analyzing.


Fell asleep and Awake
This is the time you fell asleep and the time you woke up for this dream. If you didn't wake up after the dream then put that down as well. Everything must be documented.

Dream
No. I am not explaining why.

Vividness, Awareness, and Length
These are the things that you are always trying to maximize in dreams. If any of these are higher than usual you can count a success.

Emotions
This is helpful, because the emotions of dreams fades after time. If you have it written down, you won't lose it.

Dream Signs
"This doesn't count for me, I don't use dream signs."
:nono: You don't think you have dream signs
This part is actually mislabeled a little bit. This isn't really for dream signs you have, but things that might be dream signs. I will discuss where dream signs go later, if you are still with me after this crazy long tutorial. So you put anything that has happened in a dream before. Also put emotions in here as well as pains. You might see them more than you think. Just noting that something has happened multiple times in a dream can increase your awareness in this matter.

Tags (optional)
This part is optional if you use tags. This will help you see if your tags in the middle of the night help, and which ones help. Things like "When I put a color theme to the dream, I remembered it much better" will pop into your head and you will get better at tagging, because everyone is different, so one word tags might not work well for you, or they might work better.

Summary
So this whole thing is here so that after a while, you can analyze what helps you, and what doesn't. I would recommend only adding one technique every 2 weeks. Also keeping a technique for at least 2 weeks. Then analyze.

Dream Goal Journal

This is for your goals. Start with your long term goals. Where do you want to be at in terms of lucidity and recall in a year? A year is a long time. Reach far on this point. I can't tell you what goals to put in this, but I can tell you how to format it. This is also good for long term "in-dream goals"

Spoiler for Format:

January
1-6
1 LD
6 dreams
7-12
1 LD
6 dreams
13-18
1 LD
6 dreams
19-24
1 LD
7 dreams
25-31
2 LDs
10 dreams

Total LDs wanted for January:
8
Goals for January:

Next Page
1
Dreams: (Just a number)
LDs: (Just a number)
2
Dreams:
LDs:
3
Dreams:
LDs:
4
Dreams:
LDs:
5
Dreams:
LDs:
6
Dreams:
LDs:

Goals for this week:

FAQs by the weird voices in my head that are skeptical about this tutorial

"But BrandonBoss! I don't have that many LDs a month or dreams a week! I can't put this many down! What do I do?"
First, you don't have goals for the first month. Then going by the previous month, you make your own goals.

"Why is it separated into sections of six and one of 7?"
3 reasons:
1) I lie to myself and call each period a week to make myself feel more motivated. 1 LD in a week! I can do that!
2) So I can have 5 "weeks" every month instead of four, this gives me more goals to hit.
3) So that it always starts at the beginning of a month, because that is a lot easier to set goals for.

"Why is there a goal journal at all?"
To analyze your success and failure (I can use this word without it effecting my LDs) even more and giving you motivation through goals. Goals help a lot in shaping your lucid future. Right now your goal may be just to have a lucid dream. That is a goal. Go for it! Write it in Goal Journal!

"Why does your total LDs not add up to the amount of LDs in each of the weeks combined?"
Because you are going to do better than that on at least on week. I recommend 1 or 2 LDs higher than your total at first, make it higher in the future if you wish. Your goals.

"I can't get 1 LD a week even, what if my goal for the month is one LD?"
Good question. I am afraid my only answer is that you should prove yourself wrong! You can has 1 LD a week! You have at least seven tries (see how I lie to myself about the week thing?)! :P I hope this doesn't discourage anyone. Another thing would be to not have amount of LDs in there until you get better.

"What do I put in the Goals for January spot?"
In-dream goals! You should have an expiration date for these, so they stay fresh and you are always trying something new and exciting. If you don't accomplish these, then make sure not to get discouraged. If you want to keep them, then move them to long term goals and continue to try.

Almost over

Thanks for staying with me. I think that this can help you figure out what techniques are helping you and which ones are not. Ask me any questions you have below. :)

Dream like a Boss. -BrandonBoss

This is really good, analyzing your dreams really helps and can often be just as effective as using mantra's. Particular emphasize should be place on awareness, lucidity, emotions and dream signs, recognizing these IWL helped me start to recognize them in dreams a lot faster.
I definitely think this should be an official guide, it's nicely laid out and should give new members a good understanding of dream journalling. Keep up the great work :D

Ah, I like extra details. I already set up my next DJ entry to look like this. Thanks Brandon :happyface:

Wow. This is... Amazing. Good work!

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Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

Lucid and Recall Techniques
This is so you can look back at the techs that you are using for this night and see how it effected everything. Another obvious one, but an important one. Remember that LDing techniques can make your recall go up or down as well. So put that into consideration when analyzing.

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Can you elaborate on this a bit for me please? I'm trying to focus on improving my recall first, and i'd hate to practice anything that would be a detriment to that.

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Originally Posted by dutchraptor

This is really good, analyzing your dreams really helps and can often be just as effective as using mantra's. Particular emphasize should be place on awareness, lucidity, emotions and dream signs, recognizing these IWL helped me start to recognize them in dreams a lot faster.
I definitely think this should be an official guide, it's nicely laid out and should give new members a good understanding of dream journalling. Keep up the great work :D

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Yeah, same thing happened to me. I realized that just noting these things helped a ton.
Thanks Dutch. :) I am glad you liked it.

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Originally Posted by SnowyCat

Wow. This is... Amazing. Good work!

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Thanks. :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PennyRoyal

Ah, I like extra details. I already set up my next DJ entry to look like this. Thanks Brandon :happyface:

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Yeah, I forgot to mention that you can easily copy/paste this and use it in the Dreamviews Dream Journal. Most people should be able to figure that out though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PennyRoyal

Can you elaborate on this a bit for me please? I'm trying to focus on improving my recall first, and i'd hate to practice anything that would be a detriment to that.

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Elaborate on how techniques make your recall go up and down, or elaborate on recall techniques?

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Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

Elaborate on how techniques make your recall go up and down, or elaborate on recall techniques?

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Sorry, I should have been specific :P

Elaborate on how techniques make your recall go up and down. I'm mostly worried about making things worse.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PennyRoyal

Sorry, I should have been specific :P

Elaborate on how techniques make your recall go up and down. I'm mostly worried about making things worse.

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Well all of the "popular" techniques make your recall go up generally. It might differ from person to person, but they shouldn't have a negative effect. If you try any new techniques that pop up, especially ones that mess with your sleep cycle, you should make sure to document it. Also CAT seems to me that it could have a rebound effect on your recall if you don't LD, but I have never tried it. Techniques shouldn't be a problem, but since everyone is different, it is something everyone should check. :)

Very nice tutorial, really great tips for those struggling with recall, or anyone really. I just recently starting doing the bit about writing down goals. I also make note of any supplements I may have taken.

Though, I am set in my old ways and just write down willy-nilly whatever seemed prominent at the time. :P

I'm curious though, Brandon, how long does it take you when writing in your DJ? I already spend far too much time writing in mine already cause Im anal about writing down every detail I can remember... when you start remembering 4+ dreams a night, that gets really tedious. :S

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Originally Posted by Alucinor XIII

Very nice tutorial, really great tips for those struggling with recall, or anyone really. I just recently starting doing the bit about writing down goals. I also make note of any supplements I may have taken.

Though, I am set in my old ways and just write down willy-nilly whatever seemed prominent at the time. :P

I'm curious though, Brandon, how long does it take you when writing in your DJ? I already spend far too much time writing in mine already cause Im anal about writing down every detail I can remember... when you start remembering 4+ dreams a night, that gets really tedious. :S

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Oh! I don't take supplements, so I didn't think of that. :P

Since the beginning of January, no time at all. :shock: I average about 6 dreams a night, I am starting up again to see if it helps m. I haven't lost any recall because using this set up I found a lot of things that help my recall more than DJing. I am starting up because I am looking into more techniques.

It took about 20-30 minutes. It will take less time now though, since I am only going to be writing out small summaries of the dreams. I am going to do it on here and have the format. I will Also be posting a weekly goals at the beginning of my "weeks" :) I think this will help me get lucid. I am guessing it will take 10 minutes to do it now.

I only write the date and the actual dream itself. I feel like I've really been slacking on my DJ now lol. Thanks for this, I've been missing out on so much.

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Originally Posted by mahoogie

I only write the date and the actual dream itself. I feel like I've really been slacking on my DJ now lol. Thanks for this, I've been missing out on so much.

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That is what most people start out with on DJing. I kept randomly hearing people say "add this to your daily DJ." And I kept the stuff I liked.

I hope it helps. :)

Good thread Boss!

It can also be very helpful to jot down anything you ate or drank that might affect dreaming, or any unusual activity (hard labor, video games, maybe a movie or show that you really got into). Often after waking up and remembering my dreams it strikes me that some of these factors might have contributed, so I'll write them down as well as I remember.

And on dream signs, it's a good idea to just read through a week or so of entries now and then with an eye toward noticing any signs you might not have thought of before. From time to time old dream signs can sort of fade and new ones creep in.

In the Goal journal in the part where is says 'Next page', do you just write down how many dreams and LDs you had that day? And I understand how you write the goals you have for january, but what do you write in the goals for this week part? Is is just what you have achieved during that week or something else?

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Originally Posted by MysticalDipshit

In the Goal journal in the part where is says 'Next page', do you just write down how many dreams and LDs you had that day? And I understand how you write the goals you have for january, but what do you write in the goals for this week part? Is is just what you have achieved during that week or something else?

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Yes.

For the week you will have goals at the bottom.

Monthly goals would be something that takes more than 1 LD to accomplish, or might fail at (like "go to the dream army base"). Weekly goals are like... Remember to stabilize or something small. As you get better, it won't be the same. For instance it has been 3 weeks and 2 tries for the dream army base. But for dutchraptor it was 1 night. That would be a weekly goal for him. A monthly goal for me. :)

Alright, thanks. I just wanted to be sure. :D

thanks so much for this, this is really motivating me now to keep a DJ, and is it better to actually write them down on paper, or is it ok to type it on an android app i have

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Originally Posted by azoller1

thanks so much for this, this is really motivating me now to keep a DJ, and is it better to actually write them down on paper, or is it ok to type it on an android app i have

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I prefer to use both. Partly because I'm a private person, and some dreams I don't want to publish publicly. Also because I can put things like Goals, times I slept, etc in my DV Journal because I don't like my paper journal to be all cramped up with numbers and things that are not specifically my dreams.

I also noticed a small influx in my dream recall when I went out and bought a nice leather bound journal that was aesthetically pleasing to me because I was excited to put my new dreams in it.

I think the Digital vs. Paper really comes down to personal preference.

I do both too. But when you first wake up you want whatever is fastest for you and most intuitive. If it's hard to peck around and find the letters on your Android, I wouldn't do it that way. I want to just be able to write as fast as possible so it doesn't interfere with remembering the dreams.

I like the method of first scribbling them down in rough form in the notebook and later typing them up online - I find I've had a chance to think about them more and ofen remember more details or understand some parts better. It's sort of like writing a rough draft and then refining it.

Yeah I was also going to say its faster just writing it on paper, and yeah I agree that its also good to re type them and kind of re write how you want it since its already written down in your journal

I think that everyone is different on this point. Many say that the lights of a computer or phone will take down your recall, but I have never had it happen to me. Try it both ways and see what works for you. Also as dark matters said "whatever is easiest for you in the morning". Even if the light hurts you, of you don't want a notepad and pen near your bed it might be easier to just grab your phone for a second, or to just turn a light on for a second. Do what feels comfortable and what works for you. You can write that down in your DJ as well (taken by phone, or by paper) that way you can compare them better.

How would you know when you fell asleep? Do you just mean when you got in bed, or are you supposed to put an estimate of the time that you fell asleep?

Good point. It takes me approximately the same time to fall asleep each night, so it doesn't matter for me (results would be the same). But if you struggle to fall asleep some nights, you might want to always put time that you fall to sleep.

Hey just to make sure I know that I understand certain parts, Day time techniques would be like reality checks, lucid techniques would be like MILD and recall techniques would be DJing?

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Originally Posted by Masumi

Hey just to make sure I know that I understand certain parts, Day time techniques would be like reality checks, lucid techniques would be like MILD and recall techniques would be DJing?

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Yes! Except DJing, technically DJing would be both LDing and recall. You would be able to tell when you DJ though, so you wouldn't need to write it down. :P I think that people that spend the time DJing should get more out of it then just a little extra recall! They should be able to compare techniques that they used with time sleeping, with amount of dreams! :)

Here are some recall techniques:
http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-sign...ompendium.html

DJing is a mediocre recall technique for me, using this DJ I was able to get my recall to what it is and to realize that stopping DJing doesn't effect my recall as long as I keep other techniques going.

I'm definitely going to try this. The more you focus on your dream and analyze it the better your recall will get.

Hey,
I am planning to use and add my own parameters to this DJ Template, So Thanks! But I have a clarificaiton. When you mean Recall Techniques, what do you mean, I mean, isn't DJing done to improve Dream Recall? what other Techniques are there to improve Dream Recall? because I am unaware of any except DJing, Mantras, Self Hypnosis and RC,RRC,ADAing ?

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Originally Posted by Kamskun

Hey,
I am planning to use and add my own parameters to this DJ Template, So Thanks! But I have a clarificaiton. When you mean Recall Techniques, what do you mean, I mean, isn't DJing done to improve Dream Recall? what other Techniques are there to improve Dream Recall? because I am unaware of any except DJing, Mantras, Self Hypnosis and RC,RRC,ADAing ?

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http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-sign...ompendium.html

The whole idea of this is to just give you ideas how to set up your DJ. :) good luck. There are other ways to recall other than the compendium. If you need any more ideas, just ask. :)

Wow, Thanks for the Link, I don't know how I overlooked that, anyways, I have successfully entered yesterday's and Today's entries into my DJ with your format, hopefully I can learn more things now, btw, as someone else mentioned, I have added "Supplement" parameter to my DJ since I am planning to use Vitamin B6 Rich foods/vitamin b6 tablets. Anyways, Thanks for your template. :)

Everyone seems to miss that. Check out the stickies in each subforum before posting a thread. :S save you some time.

I don't do/like supplements, so I didn't put anything about it on there. I feel like all it does is change expectation, and there are far better ways to do that. :)

Hey, @BrandonBoss! Question: What exactly are tags supposed to be in this context? I'm a bit confused by this because I know that we have tags in DreamViews dream journals here; but I note every dream element that I encounter (people, settings, objects, events) as a 'possible dream sign.' What's the difference between tags and possible dream signs, as I use the latter?

Also, a general complaint. I've recently stopped writing down the complete storylines of most of my dreams because I'm also (like someone you talked to earlier here) having trouble with how much time it takes to do that. Especially on the weekends, I usually have pretty good dream recall; but now, it's taking so long to even type up everything that I remember that it's getting tedious. Instead, I'm writing down a bunch of plot points at the centre of every dream to retain my memory of the stories; but it's not in as much detail as it would have been if I'd typed up the whole thing. I didn't realise how long it actually took to type up the full story until one day, I counted up 2½ hours. :panic: So, do you have any tips on what I should do with the length to efficiency ratio of my dream journaling?

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Originally Posted by AstralVagabond

Hey, @BrandonBoss! Question: What exactly are tags supposed to be in this context? I'm a bit confused by this because I know that we have tags in DreamViews dream journals here; but I note every dream element that I encounter (people, settings, objects, events) as a 'possible dream sign.' What's the difference between tags and possible dream signs, as I use the latter?

Also, a general complaint. I've recently stopped writing down the complete storylines of most of my dreams because I'm also (like someone you talked to earlier here) having trouble with how much time it takes to do that. Especially on the weekends, I usually have pretty good dream recall; but now, it's taking so long to even type up everything that I remember that it's getting tedious. Instead, I'm writing down a bunch of plot points at the centre of every dream to retain my memory of the stories; but it's not in as much detail as it would have been if I'd typed up the whole thing. I didn't realise how long it actually took to type up the full story until one day, I counted up 2½ hours. :panic: So, do you have any tips on what I should do with the length to efficiency ratio of my dream journaling?

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I used to have the same problem as you (almost - 2 1/2 hours? You must be a writer!). I tried recording the dream on a voice recorder and then typing it up, it seemed very much easier to me because I typed every word I heard. Touch typing also works wonders if you're doing it on a computer.

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Originally Posted by Ichorid

I used to have the same problem as you (almost - 2 1/2 hours? You must be a writer!). I tried recording the dream on a voice recorder and then typing it up, it seemed very much easier to me because I typed every word I heard. Touch typing also works wonders if you're doing it on a computer.

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Whoo, thanks for the reply! And I am actually a writer, yes! Thanks for the suggestion; I think I'll actually use that! I heard the idea long ago and thought nothing of it; but now, I'm thinking that could work wonders. Saying it out loud and then copying the recording seems much easier than having to type everything from memory right away, even though my dream journal is on my laptop. Thanks!

Hmmm even that can take up a long time when writing down epics. I am gonna write a tag guide on here soon. I dont ever DJ, because I know how to increase my.recall thanks to this. A short guide for it would be who, where, and what.

Who I was with, where I was at, and what were we doing. If it changesnin dream, I make sure I keep it in the same paragraph. Next paragraph is the next dream.

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Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

Hmmm even that can take up a long time when writing down epics. I am gonna write a tag guide on here soon. I dont ever DJ, because I know how to increase my recall thanks to this. A short guide for it would be who, where, and what.

Who I was with, where I was at, and what were we doing. If it changes in dream, I make sure I keep it in the same paragraph. Next paragraph is the next dream.

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Okay, I guess I got the gist of it. But whoa, you don't usually write the full story in your dream journal anymore? That effective a method, huh? I think I'm going to try recording the story with my voice now anyway. Seems like it's gonna make everything a lot easier.

This is actually pretty good! Thanks for the advice!

For January is it for next January or do I put like whatever month this is? For example "may" ?

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Originally Posted by PierceHerVeil

For January is it for next January or do I put like whatever month this is? For example "may" ?

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yes! Start with this month. I noticed that that wasn't extremely clear when rereading it. :)

Thank you for sharing this guide, I'll give it a shot starting today !

Thanks Sensei for this awesome guide, didn't really think about this, but getting as much data about what your recall depends on is probably the first step towards improving it. Actually, I was so inspired by your post that I am currently working on an app which is based on what data you say should be collected and which is supposed to make the process of analyzing this data way easier.