I find Dream Journaling a chore and just annoying to deal with?

Hey everyone. I really want to take up lucid dreaming again (I have not been trying or writing down dreams really for about 2-3 weeks)
It's like I have no motivation. I DESIRE and really want a lucid dream, but I find Dream Journaling a chore! I use to love writing in my dream journal every morning. (I have a handwritten dream journal by the way) It's just boring now, and so I don't usually write my dreams down sometimes..

What would happen if I didn't write my dreams down but still tried all the techniques (DILD, WILD, etc.)

Or what would happen if I only wrote the lucid ones?

What could happen is that you'll, probably, will remember nothing. There are users here at the forums that said that dream journal is not necessary, for them.

I actually don't really like writing in my dream journal (but, when I get a lucid, I simply love), but I do almost everyday when I get decent recall.

They will still work the same, the DJ is just an aid in the journey of LDing. The techniques should still work the same.

Quick tip: Instead of just writing them down like it's a chore, why don't you try to actively remember your dreams and think about them for a while? You don't necessarily have to write them down, and you could learn dream interpretation to help you think about them more and, quite possibly, solve some real-life issues along the way. Try checking out An Online Guide To Dream Interpretation to start learning dream interpretation if you are interested.

I hope I helped!

EDIT: Oh wow, at 60 entries you must have really like to write in your DJ back then! :cheeky:

Haha! Yea, I guess.
Thanks guys. I might go to a computer dream journal so it won't be such a hassle.
And plus, its quicker!

I simply use a notes app on my ipod for my dream journaling
It's easier just doing it electronically, I don't know about you, but I hate writing things down.

Sometimes I feel the way you feel now, and I stop DJing for a while
I usually find myself more motivated when I have a vivid or simply amazing dream

You could always just journal the fun ones. If it's becoming a chore to write down everything, focus less on the dull ones and go for the fun ones. Your recall may take a hit, but it's better than suffering from journal burnout entirely.

I love writing in my dream journal, it's just part of my morning routine. When I first started writing down my dreams I'd have to do it immediately when I woke up... After doing it for so long, my recall has gotten better to the point where I wake up, make a pot of tea, sit down and write before going on to the rest of my morning routine...

You know what. Forget it. I have a morning routine. For some reason this is depressing and makes me feel old.

I hardly ever remember enough of my dreams to make it worth a journal post, so I usually end up tweeting them instead. -_-'

Yea.. I wish I would have the determination to write in my journal and not electronically. Because, my family members might want to look at them.. and I might want to in the future.

I tossed my offline dream journal because I don't need it anymore. I still try to record my dreams every day online in my workbook. I'd probably have much better recall if I record my dreams offline.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sydney

Yea.. I wish I would have the determination to write in my journal and not electronically. Because, my family members might want to look at them.. and I might want to in the future.

---

It's rather easy to password protect a word or open office document and back it up to a flash drive once in a while.

I don't like writing em down much either, so I usually just run through them mentally when I wake up, and spend 5-10 minutes before I get out of bed thinking about them. So long as I do that every morning my recall is fine, and I can still remember dreams days or weeks later.

I cant ever remember non lucid dreams. Sometimes I do but it is rare. If I think about it enough it will get pretty much stuck into my brain and I can remember it. I also dont always right down everything that happens in my dreams only the main points

If I wake up and try hard enough, I can remember enough about a dream to solidify it in my mind for a while. But, eventually, the dream will fade, and it will be like I never had it in the first place. I'm too interested in many of my dreams to let that happen.

So I write notes. When I get up, it takes me all of 30 seconds for me to write enough notes to remember a dream, whenever I read back over it. Most of my dream journal entries consist of notes that I've gone back over, and written in detail, days after I've dreamed them.

I think keeping a dream journal is very important. It keeps you focused on dreaming, and sets in your mind a sense of importance and urgency into not only remembering the dreams you've had in the past, but becoming more proficient in remembering dreams more frequently, in general. (Co-incidentally, when I'm the most serious with my journal-writing, I tend to have/remember more dreams - lucid and non-lucid - than any other time.) I would hate to have completely lost all the awesome dreams that I would have lost, if I didn't take 20-30 seconds to type something down, upon waking.

But, to each his/her own. :content:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

If I wake up and try hard enough, I can remember enough about a dream to solidify it in my mind for a while. But, eventually, the dream will fade, and it will be like I never had it in the first place. I'm too interested in many of my dreams to let that happen.

So I write notes. When I get up, it takes me all of 30 seconds for me to write enough notes to remember a dream, whenever I read back over it. Most of my dream journal entries consist of notes that I've gone back over, and written in detail, days after I've dreamed them.

I think keeping a dream journal is very important. It keeps you focused on dreaming, and sets in your mind a sense of importance and urgency into not only remembering the dreams you've had in the past, but becoming more proficient in remembering dreams more frequently, in general. (Co-incidentally, when I'm the most serious with my journal-writing, I tend to have/remember more dreams - lucid and non-lucid - than any other time.) I would hate to have completely lost all the awesome dreams that I would have lost, if I didn't take 20-30 seconds to type something down, upon waking.

But, to each his/her own. :content:

---

Yeah, jotting down some notes for later is what I usually do as well. Most of the time I can come back and remember exactly what the dream was about, but sometimes I can't read my handwritting or have absolutley no idea what I wrote down meant lol. But for the most part, it works very well. Just write enough notes so that it will come back to you.

i love dream journaling with pen ON a paper notebook. problem is..................i dont remember every night so i can't write :(

I originally wrote down my dreams in explicit detail when I first started if I woke at 4:30 for instance I would write at least a paragraph while this equated to great recall after a few days I was really tired. So I adopted the method I use now. Similar to Oneironaut's I write some notes in the morning in a rough DJ and then before I go to bed I write them up in a my Good DJ. If I neglect my DJ its only the good one so when I feel motivated again I write down my notes that have piled up...

That's what I do. I usually add enough notes to the notes app on my ipod and write everything down in detail later. I love writing though so it's not much of a chore for me :)

I find that when I write in my DJ often enough I get better, more vivid dreams :D

I'm now typing my dreams offline now ;) It's soo much easier. My recall is gradually getting better.

Progress! Haha. Good to hear. :>

And yes, typing them is definitely the best way to go about it.

I have missed writing so many dreams down and forgot about them because it is a chore for me too. But, if you really want to LD, do it. If you want to improve your recall, all you need to do is get your dream journal and read the whole thing while trying to remember the dream you are reading. Nearly every time I do this, my recall is back up to speed that night or maybe 2-3 days.

So this past week I've have not had much recall and it's been bugging me. What I did was I read about 15 of my past dreams and when I fell asleep, I remembered a dream and it was mildly vivid. If you want to lucid dream, you should have one or you will cripple yourself.

Well, my lucid dream count is minuscule but I have journaled over 50 non-lucids. I've often just done recalling the easy way. I'd recall it upon awakening and it would be in my head for a long time before I'd write it down. However, I find that when I am writing, I tend to elaborate a lot more than I do when I lazily think "Oh, I'll just remember now and write later." If I don't write, I will just remember the plot because that brings each scene back to me.
When "later" comes, I'm sometimes uncertain about little details and I wonder just how many details I've let go by doing that. What color was this? What exactly did they say to me, word-for-dord?
I think that might be why now, I always recall the plots but often don't have a detailed picture of what rooms looked like or anything like that.