Thread: Improving Dream Recall

A few things I've discovered through experimentation:

1) If you have plenty of time (e.g. weekend), then set your alarm to wake yourself up 1 hr 45 minute after you go to bed. (Sleep cycles are about 1 hr 30 min long, the extra 15 min added for falling asleep.) Get out of bed for about 5 - 10 minutes and recall any dreams you might have had. Go back to bed again and set the alarm for 1 hr 45 min later, rinse and repeat until you're well rested. I found the amount of dream content I remembered doubled or tripled with this method when writing in my dream diary.

2) If you don't do #1, at least keep a notecard and a pencil under your pillow. When you wake up in the middle of the night, grab the two and scribble down keywords about your dream. I sometimes do this without even having to open my eyes. Then in the morning, recall the entire dreams with those keywords. This is helpful if simply getting up or reaching for the dream journal in the middle of the night ends up messing your dream recall..