Thread: Alarm Clock Interfering with Recall! :(

I need to use an alarm clock at least 5 days a week, sometimes 6.. but it really messes with my dream recall. Sometimes I don't remember anything! I really can't play games with getting up on time or my trusting my "internal clock".. and my alarm is already set to a pretty low volume... Any suggestions??

Sometimes I will set my alarm clock half an hour or so before I have to wake up. Wake yourself up, but continue to lay in bed and be still. Don't go back to sleep, just try to remember what you were dreaming about. Hold it in your mind. Get up and write down your dreams either before or after your alarm clock goes off again.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the tip!

Alarm clocks kill recall. My recall is like 2 per night with the alarm and 7 without - the numbers speak for themselves.

Alarms are the worst thing you can do for your recall, as you're shocked out of your dream and have a real life issue to attend to; you need to focus your attention on turning off the alarm, meaning that your dream slips away. If you had woken up naturally, you would've come out of the dream and it would still be on your mind. To recall, you really need to lie there for a minute or two and think about your dreams. If you don't think about them immediately, they slip away.

GMoney's recommendation: go to bed earlier so you'll wake up naturally. If your body needs 10 hours of sleep, go to sleep 10 hours before you need to get up. Still set your alarm as a backup, but you really need to wake up naturally for maximum recall.