How to wake up?

Hey,
So far I have had one, vague, lucid dream but I have a slight problem with recalling my dreams.

Usually I wake up with my alarm clock on my phone about half an hour before I used to wake up, to give me some time to write down my dream(s).

The problem is that to shut it off I need to move quite a lot since my phone lies quite high and above my head. And to have the best dream recall, you shouldn't move when you wake up, right?
So when, in the weekends for example, I don't set my alarm clock but go to bed with the intent to wake up and remember my dreams but I wake up really gradually and once I am awake enough to remember to recall my dream it's already gone.
I also think that if it's too easy for me to shut off my alarm I'd just go back to sleep or remember too late that I should recall my dreams.

Does anyone know the best way to wake up?

Also another question: when I wake up I go through the entire dream in my head before I write it down, but usually the dream is already half gone before I went all over it. Is this the best way to do that?

EDIT: Oh, and the last question. How do I stop my mind from wandering while trying to recollect what happened in the dream?

The alarm thing, you are going to have to figure out what works best for you.

But my advice for the DJ, just write down a bunch of key words as fast you as can that relate to the dream. Then go to a different page and start to write things out. They key word writing will solidify the dreams quickly in your mind :)

Hey, thanks for the tip! Hadn't thought of that.
Do you think there is another way to wake up so I don't have to move?

I wake up to an alarm clock with ambient light rather than beeping. This is about 80% effective for me; sometimes I sleep right through the light. That allows you to wake up and smoothly progress from dream to waking, and not move at all. Sometimes I forget and jump up to shut off the alarm (decades of habit are HARD to break!) which ruins everything.

Usually I wake from a dream and remember it clearly. I then lay still, relaxed, with my eyes closed, and try to think of some fuzzy images I have in my head. After about five minutes I've generally recalled 2-4 dreams, and tried to walk my way through each dream, recalling as much as possible. Sometimes you need to work your way backward through a dream instead of forward. I also assign a catchy descriptive title to each dream so I can keep it fresh in my mind until I reach the computer on the other side of the house, which happens as soon as I hop out of bed.

Then I start writing down the dreams I recall from least to best in that order. No detail is too minute, and no observation worth glossing over.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mercen_505

I wake up to an alarm clock with ambient light rather than beeping. This is about 80% effective for me; sometimes I sleep right through the light. That allows you to wake up and smoothly progress from dream to waking, and not move at all. Sometimes I forget and jump up to shut off the alarm (decades of habit are HARD to break!) which ruins everything.

Usually I wake from a dream and remember it clearly. I then lay still, relaxed, with my eyes closed, and try to think of some fuzzy images I have in my head. After about five minutes I've generally recalled 2-4 dreams, and tried to walk my way through each dream, recalling as much as possible. Sometimes you need to work your way backward through a dream instead of forward. I also assign a catchy descriptive title to each dream so I can keep it fresh in my mind until I reach the computer on the other side of the house, which happens as soon as I hop out of bed.

Then I start writing down the dreams I recall from least to best in that order. No detail is too minute, and no observation worth glossing over.

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Thanks.
I thought about buying a Philips Wake-up light a while ago, but now I'm afraid that if I wake up gradually by the time I remember to go over my dreams they'll be all gone.
I might buy one anyway because always when I hear the sound that wakes me up I cringe, I hate the sound.

I also tend to be too lazy to go over or write down my dreams, and then regret it later, but I guess that's just the willpower I lack :P