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Hey folks,
I'm waking up in the night after dreams, but I'm often so groggy I either don't remember to write down the dream I just had or forget to entirely and fall back asleep as I'm trying to remember it. What can I do to fix this? I want to record the dreams fresh, not pieces I may remember in the morning.
If you happen to have a smartphone with a nice touchscreen or physical keyboard, use it to write the dream down as soon as you wake up. It's easy to keep under your pillow or at the end of your bed, doesn't require you to turn on the lights and fumble with journals and pens and I actually type them out faster than if I were to write them in a journal (though I admit I am terrible at writing). I've found it to be the single most important tool for recording my dreams.
If you happen to have a dumbphone, write out a note (or a text message saved to drafts) containing a bunch of key words about your dream. The rest will come back to you later when you sit down to write the whole thing down.
If I'm having trouble staying conscious after waking up in the middle of the night, I start putting my phone inside my DJ, and set it on the other side of my bed. When my alarm goes off, I have to wake up and look around the bed, and that usually keeps me awake long enough to write the dream down.
As a side note, it still doesn't always work. Lol
Here's what I do. Hopefully you have a clock next to your bed.
On waking from a dream, allow yourself a few moments to recall it. Maybe you can recall a lot or just one word or impression. Hold on to that. Now look at the clock. Recall when you went to bed and calculate how long you have been asleep. Doesn't have to be exact. Just realize if it's been 4.5 hours or 6 hours or whatever. That bit of math and memory will require your brain a bit of alertness. Now write down the time in your journal. And then proceed with writing the rest of your dream notes, even if it's just one word.
Looking at the clock and writing down the time are a good habit to train you to write in your journal because it's the same routine every time. Day to day, dreams will differ and your mood with differ. But looking at the clock and writing down the time is always the same motions and the same amount of effort.
The other replies have pretty much said it all, but I will say what I do!
At first I used to completely forget to write down my dreams, I'm a complete scatter brain and it doesn't help when I'm half dead in the morning. I would put a pen and paper next to my bed so it requires little effort to write the dream down, the fact it being there also helped to remember.
Other ways is writing notes on the wall/ceiling which remind you to write them down, or setting an alarm 5 minutes before you would normally wake up so you have the time.
Also, if you sleep alone, far away from other people or with the door closed, a recorder is a possibility. :content:
These are all really great suggestions guys! The iPhone idea is cool, but my phone is stupid as hell! lol. I suppose tying a knot on my finger would work aswell?
As for not falling asleep as you recall them, just sit up?
I wouldn't record them in detail if I were you, actually. There is a tendency to dream of waking up to record them in detail when that happens, and often you will find yourself frustrated over that <.<
No, see I wake up, but I don't remember I need to write down my dream(s) and fall back asleep.
A few years back I had the same problem. What I ended up doing was writing down a bunch of keywords and then going back to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I'd have a list of words and phrases written down to jog my memory of what happened. The only major drawback was if the list was too short or too vague. I'd look at it a be like, "Dancing apples, someplace wet, sun. WHAT?"
Are you doing any mantras or affirmations while falling asleep? It might help if you repeat the phrase (with conviction), "I wake up after every dream and record it in detail."
Oh, and honestly, persistence and consistency are the keys of dream recall. Resolve to do it regardless of how you feel during the middle of the night. Willpower, for sure. If all you get is half a dream scribbled down before passing out again, be happy that you gave it your best shot and aim for 3/4 of a dream the next night. I understand that as your recall gets better, it takes longer and longer to record the dream. My recall went from barely a paragraph to routinely writing 2-3 full pages each dream (so about 10 pages on an average night). It usually takes me about 15-20 minutes to record a full dream and by that time my body has waken up enough to not worry about falling back asleep while writing. Also, I prop myself up on my elbow and after about five minutes of that, my spine is aching, which helps to keep me awake as as I write.
Hope that helps!
I should change my mantra. I've been using "When I have a dream, I WILL KNOW that I am dreaming and REMEMBER it." Emphasis on the I WILL KNOW and REMEMBER. But, it doesn't really seem to be working. Maybe it's too long. Your's is better. More direct in what I want to do. Also, my recall is starting to go to shit for some reason. I can barely remember anything from last night/this morning.
My recall is really going down. It's not like when I first started this. What's going on? Last night I remember nothing, today a little better, but it's all fragmented.