Who else HATES writing in dream journals?

[DeeryTheDeer]

When I wake up each morning I can remember multiple dreams, even for the rest of the day until I have another dream at night. My recall is just fine, great I would say. I don't know why, but it feels like such an unbelievably miserable chore to have to sit down and slowly write/type the boring dreams I had last night in full detail. I guess I should just narrow it down to broad, simple bullet points of what the dream was about, but sometimes that's just not possible and I always have an urge to either write down every single detail or nothing at all. Why do I hate it as much as a cat hates taking a bath? I don't know, maybe it's become something to do with expecting anyone to reply to my dream journal, and thinking it's just not worth it otherwise, but I digress. If you already have great recall and know the gist of what your dreams are like from night to night, do you really NEED a dream journal? And if so, how can you make the process more fun and less epically painful and horrible?

[Amethyst Star]

If you stop making an effort to recall your dreams, you will start to forget them. It's happened to me multiple times. It's a pain to write out dreams, and I suffer from the same thing as you: I start with writing the "gist" and end up writing down more details and spending 20+ minutes writing. Summarizing can take practice, though, and if you want, try to decide which details are the most important in your dreams. If you need to wake up a little earlier so you have time to write them down, give yourself that time. Otherwise, just remember that if it's important for you to remember your dreams, journaling might just be something you need to continue to do. It's up to you. Another perk of journaling is that if you keep up with it, you can go back and look at what you've written. It's fun to read old dreams and go, "Oh yah! I remember that!"

[HeavySleeper]

I don't think dream journals are just to help you remember your dreams but they also help in letting your mind know that this is important to you. If you really hate doing something but you stick at it to acheive your goal then you're proving to yourself that you're willing to put in the effort. I too have to write down every detail in story form. I'm just not able to cut it down into small notes. When I started out writing in my dream journal I hated it but now I've become used to it, like an every day routine. Just think of it as if you're studying for a test. You might hate doing all the work now but once you see the results you'll be glad you put the effort in.

[Abra]

If you're in a hurry, write down main points, and details that you know you'll forget. Shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.

[DpsBob]

I think it's kind of fun, lol.

[lunar6]

I use the voice recorder in my cell phone to capture as much as I can remember everytime I wake up, later in the day I listen to it and write it all out in a much detail as possible, making sure it reads well so that it's interesting for me to read when I refer back to it later. I enjoy keeping track of my dreams.

[The Dreaming Zombie]

Takes a hell of a lot of willpower, maybe more than that of getting up out of bed, but once I start writing things get easier.

[yuriythebest]

depends. Sometimes if a dream is really lame/stupid I don't write it down, which I later always regret

[Fale55]

I use the voice recorder in my cell phone to capture as much as I can remember everytime I wake up, later in the day I listen to it and write it all out in a much detail as possible, making sure it reads well so that it's interesting for me to read when I refer back to it later. I enjoy keeping track of my dreams. Thats what I do except I use a digital voice recorder. @Deery: But yea just keep any thing to record voice next to your bed and then write it down when you have time.

[Banana]

i enjoy writing down dreams, because then i can read them again down the road and lol at them

[Maria92]

I love writing down my dreams. Of course, I just wrote a 50,000 word book, so I'm not exactly "average." Typing brings me great joy. Also, Banhurt's DJ program gives you an extra incentive to write down your dreams. If you make them long enough, you get bonus points. Always a great feeling when you stomp someone else further down the page.

[Mzzkc]

If you have natural recall, then a DJ isn't really necessary. It'll help you keep track of the good lucids, though, after you've had too many to manage solely in your head. Personally, I never write down boring dreams if I can help it. I only ever write, and commit to long term memory, the interesting ones. Besides, you'll have a lot more fun writing about a crazy plot and hilarious moments than you will about something mundane. Plus, if you have a public DJ, no one wants to read about the latter. Seriously.

[DeeryTheDeer]

I use the voice recorder in my cell phone to capture as much as I can remember everytime I wake up, later in the day I listen to it and write it all out in a much detail as possible, making sure it reads well so that it's interesting for me to read when I refer back to it later. I enjoy keeping track of my dreams. Yeah, I used to try recording my dreams orally with a tape recorder for about a week, but when I did, I usually sounded like a moron who just broadly tried to retell it in a mundane series of "like"s and "ummm"s. I find that I can describe dreams much more clearly and in more detail when writing it down. I should probably go back to writing my dreams down in a physical notebook, rather than typing them on my public DJ or on my small iTouch. Writing it down was kinda fun.

[MakoEyes]

Usually for me, I can only remember bits and pieces of my dreams. Once I start putting effort into remembering (by writing what I do remember down), it slowly starts coming back to me. It's as if my memories are connected to one another by some sort of enigmatic dream chain which holds all of my dream memory and, if broken, will no longer function. At least, that's how it's been these past few days since I've started recalling my dreams. I spend a lot of time writing down these dreams, and yeah, it does seem like a real pain. But in the end lucidity is worth it, right?

[lunar6]

Yeah, I used to try recording my dreams orally with a tape recorder for about a week, but when I did, I usually sounded like a moron who just broadly tried to retell it in a mundane series of "like"s and "ummm"s. lol, some times I cant decipher my own mumbles I go for the spoken option because, on first waking, my writing is more illegible than my speech is unintelligible...it's close though!

[lunar6]

It's as if my memories are connected to one another by some sort of enigmatic dream chain which holds all of my dream memory and, if broken, will no longer function. remembering dreams is certainly an enigmatic process, if you catch hold of the right thread sometimes you can pull back the whole dream in a rush, at other times you catch hold of a thread and it seems to break off...you are left empty handed

[dreamsky.]

Some mornings I don't mind writing about my dreams, but others when I'm very fatigued and just want to go back to sleep it takes a bit of effort. remembering dreams is certainly an enigmatic process, if you catch hold of the right thread sometimes you can pull back the whole dream in a rush, at other times you catch hold of a thread and it seems to break off...you are left empty handed You're exactly right. Sometimes I'll write down the dreams I remember and later on in the day I'll see something that will remind me of another dream I didn't recall earlier and the full dream will charge into my mind all of the sudden. Then I have to run to write down key words about it else it's gone in a flash!

[BeenThere]

I don't think dream journals are just to help you remember your dreams but they also help in letting your mind know that this is important to you. This certainly is true for me. You can think of the DJ as a way of exercising your mind to reach out for something that starts out ethereal and bit by bit becomes more real. In everyday life we are trained to ignore anything extraneous to "reality", so the DJ is a way of bringing that extra stuff back into our daily awareness - kind of like a bridge to the dream world. I too use a digital recorder. It sits right at the head of the bed so I can reach for it easily. It is simple to use also so I don't have to get up, turn on the light, etc. to use it. Now, my problem is I get lazy about transcribing it every day...which partially defeats the purpose...matter of fact I need to go transcribe the last three nights right now!

[Phantasos]

I write down only lucid dreams. For training dream recall I use digital recorder - it is enough to do the trick.

[JeffGerlitz]

i record mine via my iphones audio mic. it saves time and is just as effective!

[TJuulsgaard]

I have a big problem when writing down dreams, my wife hates it if i turn on the lights... so in the wintertime (scandinavian wintertime is so DARK in the morning) My DJ is filled with lots of pages with terrible writing with most of the words written on top of each other... so it kind of demotivating, this winter I almost don't write anything down, and I can for sure say that I remember less of what happened in my LD's

[Ladon]

Yup, I 2nd the use of voice recording. I'm not a slow typer myself, but I always go into detail and have to correct some things and It easily takes 30mins if I remembered 3 dreams or something like that. Now imagine being able to voice record it... It takes way less time. But imo, it's less structured so you'll have to choose, you can't just 'search' a voice recording in contrast to the written word. I usually don't record or write anything down, I recall my dreams in the shower and this works fine, except that it's not a waterproof habit... I sometimes don't do it and etc, in the end my recall could've been better if I prohobited myself into making notes cos it's easily forgotten otherwise or you just happen to think of something else than your dreams...

[Vranna]

When I wake up in the morning I recall about 4-7 dreams. Mostly very detailed. But just the thought of writing down so many dreams with so many details makes me lazy. Usually I end up writing them down in the evening or the day after.

[Catbus]

If you stop making an effort to recall your dreams, you will start to forget them. It's happened to me multiple times. It's a pain to write out dreams, and I suffer from the same thing as you: I start with writing the "gist" and end up writing down more details and spending 20+ minutes writing. Summarizing can take practice, though, and if you want, try to decide which details are the most important in your dreams. If you need to wake up a little earlier so you have time to write them down, give yourself that time. Otherwise, just remember that if it's important for you to remember your dreams, journaling might just be something you need to continue to do. It's up to you. Another perk of journaling is that if you keep up with it, you can go back and look at what you've written. It's fun to read old dreams and go, "Oh yah! I remember that!" +1 Also, I love reading back on my old entries. A lot of times that brings back memories of the days surrounding that dream. I could spend hours reminiscing about things like that.

[I_C_U]

Unlike most people, I don't recall much when I wake up ... But later during the day, all the dreams comes to me in a flash and remember every single detail. Well ... Yes, I find it a bit of a pain to go write on my DJ every single day, but in the end its really rewarding and increased my recall alot.