Thread: Dream Journal, Its Going Bloody Slow

i can only remember one dream a night and i've had my journal for almost a month.

It's normal when starting out, Set Aflame. Don't worry, it comes with practice. I was like that at first, now in my third month, I remember so much it annoys me to even bother with a dream journal.

Though it's a good thing, keep going.

Same here...started a while ago, but I barely have anything written down in there.

I can usually remember parts of more than one, but I never think I get them all. I think it really helps guaruntee I won't forget a lucid (which has happened when I was lazy about recording right away) and that is one of my main goals in keeping a journal. Also for dream signs and recognition, so every one that I do remember helps, I think.

A question..is it really that effective to set up an alarm clock to wake you at regular intervals throughout the night? I mean, usually when I'm trying to, I'll remember about one or two dreams during the night when I naturally wake up......I suppose that amount could be increased if I woke more often, but..

I'm asking about this because I barely get enough sleep as it is, and it seems like having to wake up so often wouldn't exactly be beneficient. Does it really help?

Originally Posted by Somnio

A question..is it really that effective to set up an alarm clock to wake you at regular intervals throughout the night? I mean, usually when I'm trying to, I'll remember about one or two dreams during the night when I naturally wake up......I suppose that amount could be increased if I woke more often, but..

I'm asking about this because I barely get enough sleep as it is, and it seems like having to wake up so often wouldn't exactly be beneficient. Does it really help?
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I havent had a lucid dream yet and im still workign on trying to do one although im sorta stuck. But as far as waking up in the middle of the night a couple times from the alarm clock to try to WBTB or remember a dream, Ive always woken up quite refreshed compared to normal, I feel as if I get a better sleep when I do that.

Originally Posted by Somnio

A question..is it really that effective to set up an alarm clock to wake you at regular intervals throughout the night? I mean, usually when I'm trying to, I'll remember about one or two dreams during the night when I naturally wake up......I suppose that amount could be increased if I woke more often, but..

I'm asking about this because I barely get enough sleep as it is, and it seems like having to wake up so often wouldn't exactly be beneficient. Does it really help?
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Well theres nothing like your alarm going off at three in the morning and realizing you still have 3-4 hours sleep left (I love that feeling with a passion brother)

Same, that feeling is great. Especially when you wake up, and feel like it's time to get going, then you glance at the alarm clock, and you're like "Holy crap, I still have 4 hours left of sleep, I felt good to go already....".

But for me and my dream journal, as someone else said up above, it takes time. After about 2 months of keeping my dream journal, I was remembering like 4-5 dreams per night, and it was quite annoying the next day to write them down. I'd usually spend like 30 minutes just writing down my dreams, because they'd seem to long, and so detailed at that point. However, since school started up, I'm lucky to remember one dream anymore, and have no time for my journal anymore.... Don't give up!

I came to this site a long time ago only remembering a few dreams a week. Keeping a good journal will pay off in the long run. I have had upwards of five a night and around 15 lucid dreams. I mean it when I say the dream journal is the key. Good luck. I hope that helps.

I have been keeping a dream journal since the start of november and looking at it, you can see there are more and more dream entrys every night , I can recall about 2 dreams a night now, sometimes one. Its taken me from the start of november until now to get that far really.

No matter how good your recall is, a journal will always help. Before I got into LDing I'd remember around 2 dreams a night, and now it's not uncommon for me to remember 5. Yeah, it's a pain waking up at 3 AM to write something down, but it's all worth it.

When I first started my dream journal in 2004 most of my entries for the first month were like this: "I know I dreamed last night, but I can't remember them! Tonight I'll remember!" I've heard that even if you remember nothing you should write "I can't remember, but I'll remember tonight." because it's supposed to help. Within a couple of months I was remembering 1-2 dreams almost every night. It just takes a lot of patience, especially if you can't remember them at first.

As for waking up a couple times a night, I find that if I set my alarm I usually get jolted out of a dream and don't remember it, or any I had before it. So for me, alarm clocks = bad dream recall. Eventually I managed to get myself to awaken naturally a couple times a night and that makes it MUCH easier to remember dreams.

Anemone, i'll have to try that in future...when i first began my dream journal, i was remembering every night, between one and three dreams, sometimes four.

Now i'm in a stage (where i've been a long, long time) where i sometimes really don't remember anything for a week, and then out of nowhere comes this really long and detailed dream.

I think that's caused by a couple of things, the main ones being on mixed shifts (lates and earlys) if i did all lates, i could REALLY concentrate, and a lack of motivation and/or time when i am on an early shift.

From my personal experience, I only had 1 dream a night when I started a week and 2 days ago, but now I can remember 3-4 at night.

when i started out some 2 months ago my dream recall was haphazard to say the least, but as i started writing them down, i could remember more and more. first 1 dream per night then more and more.
now i don't bother writing dreams down though i still keep my journal at my side in case i want to write, but i can usually remember 4+ dreams per night