Thread: Dream Journaling for The Lazy :)

I have seen others post about audio recording dream journals.

Here is why I would not do it:
- I am not alone when I wake up, and especially if I wake up in the middle of the night, I don't want to disturb my husband with speaking, writing is less obtrusive for those of us who share a bed
- it is faster to skim through several days or weeks worth of past written dream journal entries looking for dream signs than to listen to days or weeks worth of recordings, plus one can tag the dream journal entries with a dream sign and give them titles that make skimming through past ones even easier
- I learn by note taking whereas I am not an auditory learner, and thus putting in the extra effort of note taking is a signal to my brain to pay more attention than if I were to just talk
- writing down is not that much effort for me

I see, thank you for your feedback!

Well I guess if you want to go back to them it's sort of a con of audio record, then also because you'll maybe find yourself rambling a little bit But you can always go back and fort and take some notes anywhere you want and match them to the date of the audio file to let you know if you go there this is what you'll find, without having to actually listen to the whole thing.

Now that you talk about it I don't even know if I am a better auditory learner, visual learner or whatever... :O Something to consider. Cheers!

Dude, I NEED to get one of these voice recorders soon! I, literally, had 5 lucid dreams this month that I completely forgot. 2 of them I quickly typed notes about them in Note Pad on my laptop and then went back to sleep. The power went out on my laptop as I was asleep and I hadn't saved them prior to going back to sleep. One of them I was just too tired/lazy. The other two I thought, "Those are waaaay too memorable. No way I'll forget those. I don't even have to write them down." Definitely forget everything except the fact that I had became lucid once I woke up again.

I learn so much better on a visual and auditory level as well. I contribute this to video games as you never learned from writing things down. You had to learn from visuals and auditory ques. In school, I rarely took notes. I just pretended to take them while I listened, but was actually drawing instead of note taking, haha.

If you already have an android of some sort you can just go for it, some cellphones allow you to record also but if you don't, sure thing go get yourself one! I mean it's very enjoyable to write down dreams and all but when you wake up (especially when you're not awake for good) just get it out in your bed, lights still out and if you wish/need to revisit it later to write it down why not?

It's encouraging to see that advanced dreamers such as yourself still need to pay attention in order to keep that epic degree of epicness. Makes us casual LD'ers believe that much more in the possibility of reaching that level if we're determined enough.

And omg school... funny when teachers think you're just slacking (not very untrue) while in the end you still come up with the results. haha Good times indeed.

Yeah, I would use the recording for when I went to type my dreams up on here. Indeed, whether veteran or rookie, dreams can easily vanish if not properly secured . I don't have a very fancy phone, I lose/break them too often, lol. I'll have to find me an old school voice recorder complete with the mini cassettes, haha.

Haha, yeah a lot of my teachers were surprised by me. I never did homework and appeared to pay very little attention in class at times, but I aced all my tests, quizzes, and papers. I've always been very good at multitasking and a very good test taker. I especially loved the teachers who used multiple choice testing set-ups. I could do even less work and pay even less attention in class, because a multiple choice test doesn't even stand a chance .

Dream journal in a written format comes a long way, it's probably why it's so famous. But audio recorder is preferable I'd say, because not only you can note down the details faster, ensuring you will remember more, but also it's way less painful, which makes you more likely to do it ^^ Oh, and it doesn't require you to move at all, except for your arm so you can turn on the recording.

Exactly Zoth, thank you for sharing your take! It's so easy I almost feel guilty, keyword ALMOST.

Cassettes are cool King you can add that old school vibe to it haha

It was really good times when teachers would use a lot of multiple choice questions, normally they come in fours, you kill two obvious losers and if you still can't figure the right one you still have 50%/50% chance of making it. Those were good odds back in the day!

Let me first say that I too am lazy and love this idea.

What the hell is wrong with me? I (sometimes) write in my DJ which is in the notes app of my HTC. In the same section of my journal, there is a record button! And every time I write in it, I look at the button and say "that's a nice looking button" and go to write my dreams down.

Now that, was funny.

I'm glad to be of help mate, allow that nice looking button to cut you some slack, cheers!

I downloaded a speech to text App on my iPad and it's accurate for 90% of the text.. but the remaining 10% that's inaccurate gobledegook makes it unusable. Shame. If you want to try it it's called 'Dragon Dictation'.

Yah I guess speech to text technology is a little more complex to get right than we might think, all those different accents and so on. Might be worth checking out, thanks.

It had the best reviews of all the ones I could find in the App Store and on the whole it's actually a really good App. You can easily copy out or send the text in lots of different ways. Maybe I just don't speak clearly enough!

I used to journal all my dreams. Now I only journal my lucids.

When I journaled all my dreams, I would wake up and record my dreams into a recorder on the way to work. I would then type them up when I got home. I think it is best to type or write them up. The recorder was an invaluable tool to remember my dreams.

I am able to recall much more detail when using a voice recorder. I got one with a one-touch recording function so I don't even have to open my eyes to start recording. I'll nail down all the fine details I can remember, then open my eyes and head to the PC to type my entry, referring to the recording to help fill in the fine details.

Also, If I'm late to work, I can grab the recorder and talk as I get ready for work and head out the door.

Originally Posted by Micael

Yah I guess speech to text technology is a little more complex to get right than we might think, all those different accents and so on. Might be worth checking out, thanks.

Don't forget about morning grogginess that must have quite an impact in text to speech mechanisms xD

The Sandman: I totally get what you mean about the value of writing down your dreams, that's why I'm gonna write afterwards all my lucids and my most memorable NLDS, aim for the best of both worlds.

Anderj101: That's a really dedicated way of doing it, you're going "for the kill", no excuses! Fortunately I don't have to get up to immediately go to work yet but when I do, that might as well happen even though I don't think it would be a good idea since for the time being I only use the recorder for most of my dreams so being quiet can be a boost, but it's one of those things... if you gotta go, you gotta go xD

Zoth Right? Especially if for some reason you decide to record in a language that is not your own (I record in english to practice my "speech" fluency), you'll get some fine gibberish "on the paper" xD
As of now it's all good with simple audio.

It's easier to say what I mean when writing and typing. I can pause whenever I like and for however long I like until I can find the right words to put down. Playing back recordings of me struggling to express myself would be such a nuisance! Convenience wins, this time.

Thanks for pointing it out, I get what you mean and I agree to some extent, it happens all the time with my recordings even though I don't mind it so much. But why wouldn't you be able to pause? You can pause the recorder, collect your thoughts and then go back to it when you get it right, even if at a later time.

Originally Posted by Micael

Hello guys,

As far as I can remember there's always been a big consensus around the dreaming community about the use of a notebook or something of the like to record your dreams and build up recall, you wake up and if you have time you get on with the writing of everything you can remember, if not you make some quick notes and perhaps you come back to it later to finish your entries. But it's very rare (and right now I don't even recall) seeing someone mentioning or suggesting the use of an audio recorder as your dream journal, that is, of the non-lucid "background" at least. Why is that?
I've been using it myself for some time now and I think it can be a great alternative to people who don't like having to get out of bed quickly and go write stuff down while they're still "hazy" from those hours of sleep, if you're someone who enjoys talking then more power to you.
I find it almost effortless to keep an eye on dreams, I simply leave my phone close to my bed when I wake up I stretch my arm (like luffy ) get my phone and speak away the night. I do plan to write down lucids later on though.
So why do you guys think this is often not talked about? People don't find it easier? Ineffective? Not as fun? Tell me your opinion, been working wonders for me.

I use an application on my macbook called day one, sure I have to go back and correct some of the writing when I first wake up, but my hand doesn't cramp on me like it used to and I can type faster than I can write. I just turn down the brightness on my computer before I go to sleep (so I don't wake the wife) and pop it open. I like it mostly because I can make tags for my entries and get back to something quickly.

Sure thing dude, as you wake up typing is still way better than writing, if it is just note taking it's fine anyway but if you want to write the whole thing down sometimes it can be a pain in the ass... I'm done with that unless I really feel like it, so many alternatives nowadays, no need to restrict ourselves.
I imagine journaling in the middle of the night or early morning with a partner by your side comes with it's challenges, I guess it's all good when you can sort it out xD