Revamping How I record Dreams

So recently I've decided to come back to the good ol' dream world again and revisit my old dream journal. I decided I might change the way I record them a bit though. Being I'm not fond of tediously writing down every detail by hand, I was wondering if this might be a good idea, and if anyone else had given it a try before hand.
So here is my simple plan. Record basic idea in the journal throughout the night, just notes of the dream really. Then I transfer the whole dream onto the computer.
I'm sure, being many people keep online journals, using a computer is easy for them, but I was just wondering what the general consensus is of Digital Journal V. a physical one. And if anyone is like me and has done this before, please share with me your results, increase in recall, decrease in recall? Whatever! Any feedback is appreciated!:)

I have a stack of memo block type paper next to my bed. When I wake up, I write down whatever I can remember onto it and later I type the whole thing up. I find that if I type it up soon after (like, within the next few days), I'll remember other bits and I will remember it more clearly. If I wait too long though, I can't read half of it and don't remember it as well.

I think if I wrote them down more clearly I might have a better time with it (I always end up writing like "home - mum - dark" and if I wait too long to get back to it, I have no idea what I'm talking about. I also abbreviate too much, but as long as you put enough detail so as not to get confused at a later date it works fine.

I can't seem to bring myself to do a digital journal and still use a notebook next to my bed. It just seems easier. I do like the idea of keeping an online journal here at DV, but realistically, I doubt I would have time to type up my dreams later. I could keep the laptop next to my bed, but I'm usually drooling with only one eye open when I journal my dreams.

In short, I have the same question as you and bring no information. Sorry. :P

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Originally Posted by JustinS

I can't seem to bring myself to do a digital journal and still use a notebook next to my bed. It just seems easier. I do like the idea of keeping an online journal here at DV, but realistically, I doubt I would have time to type up my dreams later. I could keep the laptop next to my bed, but I'm usually drooling with only one eye open when I journal my dreams.

In short, I have the same question as you and bring no information. Sorry. :P

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Ahaha that's cool, I think I shall take this theory into test then, as for me I'm tired of well being in a room with no light writing things. Heheh first I gotta work on getting a better sleep schedule though, 5-6 hours a night doesnt seem to be enough for me.

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Originally Posted by MightySparks

I have a stack of memo block type paper next to my bed. When I wake up, I write down whatever I can remember onto it and later I type the whole thing up. I find that if I type it up soon after (like, within the next few days), I'll remember other bits and I will remember it more clearly. If I wait too long though, I can't read half of it and don't remember it as well.

I think if I wrote them down more clearly I might have a better time with it (I always end up writing like "home - mum - dark" and if I wait too long to get back to it, I have no idea what I'm talking about. I also abbreviate too much, but as long as you put enough detail so as not to get confused at a later date it works fine.

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Hmm thanks for the info, I may use note cards like you. But my idea is not to go like a couple days after and type it up but more like sometime after I wake up in the morning. For example I take the basic notes of dreams I have throughout the night, then I wake up, turn my desktop on ( which takes forever to start up) take a shower then type it up immediately there. Although the way you do it sounds very similar so maybe it'll work better and I'll still be able to recall well enough doing this. I'm going for some (hopefully) pretty awesome recall.:banana:

I just use a voice recorder, and talk into it after I wake up after sleeping a few hours, then do it again if I need to, then when I get up, I plug it into my computer, and listen to it and write down everything.



I've remembered little details about dreams this way, that I forgot only a few hours later. Like exact things people say or something. If I try to go to far ahead of the recording, thinking I remembered this part fluently, I'll always find that when I play the recording, I've forgotten something , sometimes small, sometimes bigger.



Also, your avatar scares the hell out of me >.>

I can't use a voice recorder because I live in close quarters with people, so I keep a small journal beside my bed. I write down as much as I can remember of the dream at the time, and during the day I transfer that to my dream journal. Usually as I transfer the information I remember other things as well, which is a bonus.

I have a notebook by my bed. I just jot down notes when I wake up. Example:

- lucidity
- vampire
- won lottery
- man with gun

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Originally Posted by Loaf

I have a notebook by my bed. I just jot down notes when I wake up. Example:

- lucidity
- vampire
- won lottery
- man with gun

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See, I wish I could just write down the bare minimum, but that's never enough for me. By the morning the words are just gibberish to me. Are you able to recall your entire dream just by keywords like that?

Yes. For instance I will see "man with gun" and then remember the man, then remember where he was, then remember why I was there and who I was with. A few keywords remind me of the whole story. The odd occasion I've seen a keyword and have no idea what it means, but that happens rarely.

I read the post that your avitar scared the hell out of someone and so I looked into it and felt an OBE trying to happen. I felt the normal fear of OBE experience. Hmmm... Interesting? Oh, I like the tape recorder idea the best. I have used it myself.

I usualy take notes in my phone at night, but if the dream seems important or is lucid i get up at night to write it down.
Sometimes i to will wake up with notes in my phone wich i can't recall anything of... But it does'nt happen very often. I do notice that alot of the times alot of the details will be missing when i get up in the morning, so i try to write em down as much as possible in the night.
I only keep my journal on my laptop, wich i have next to my bed, i used to let it on in standby for this. But now i shut it down, it's a macbook so it boots up pretty quick.

In my first 2 months of dream journaling i just used a book to write in, but i have trouble falling asleep again at night when i get up to write in my journal. So turning on a light to write in it only made this worse, so i now use my laptop. I also have a cool program in wich i can browse all my dreams and add a legend to them, so that's nice to. :)

I think you're idea is great and i'm gonna buy me a taperecorder to, this way i'll definitly be able to recall more details in the morning when i write in my laptop-DJ.

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Originally Posted by resoul

I usualy take notes in my phone at night, but if the dream seems important or is lucid i get up at night to write it down.
Sometimes i to will wake up with notes in my phone wich i can't recall anything of... But it does'nt happen very often. I do notice that alot of the times alot of the details will be missing when i get up in the morning, so i try to write em down as much as possible in the night.
I only keep my journal on my laptop, wich i have next to my bed, i used to let it on in standby for this. But now i shut it down, it's a macbook so it boots up pretty quick.

In my first 2 months of dream journaling i just used a book to write in, but i have trouble falling asleep again at night when i get up to write in my journal. So turning on a light to write in it only made this worse, so i now use my laptop. I also have a cool program in wich i can browse all my dreams and add a legend to them, so that's nice to. :)

I think you're idea is great and i'm gonna buy me a taperecorder to, this way i'll definitly be able to recall more details in the morning when i write in my laptop-DJ.

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I always use my phone to write the gist of what I dream. I type several words, or just one sentence. Later on, i.e. in the morning when I'm fully awaken. I just start reading and recalling the dream. I write all the details in my phone. I use it, cause I have it on me 24/7 :P
Sometimes when I don't have time in the morning to fill up the details, I do it in the afternoon.