Trouble with motivation for dream journal

I'm really struggeling with the motivation for keeping a dream journal. It it just too time consuming. I have a lot of dreams; long ones with a lot of crazy stuff happening, and it takes foreeever to write it down. Sometimes the dreams are so abstract that it's very hard to describe them with words. I've tried just jotting down key words, but in my opinion that's just the same as writing nothing. Doesn't help recall one bit, no more than just thinking about the dream when I wake up. For me it's got to be all or nothing.

I'm wondering if any of you have succeeded with lucid dreaming without keeping a dream journal? I have good recall, always have, even without writing down dreams. Is the DJ really that important for success? Could it be enough to just spend 5 to 10 minutes thinking about my dreams and recall each morning? Writing them down just takes too long! I can't spend close to an hour writing down dreams each and every day!? *sigh*

If you can go with just remembering your dreams as you wake up from them and still record them in the morning, go for it! A dream journal is only a means, not an end ;)

P.s. 1.Qh7+ Kf8, 2.Qh8+ Nxh8, 3.Rxh8#, glad to see you play chess :P

When I firsts started pursing LDs I kept a full dream journal (normal dreams and lucid dreams) for a while but then stopped because it was too much of a hassle. However, I continued to keep a journal for just lucid dreams.

When I stopped keeping the full journal it did seem to reduce the number of LDs I was having, but they didn’t stop completely as long as I kept up with the other techniques (RCs, visualization, and mantras). Then I lost complete motivation and only did sporadic RCs out of habit (Pretty much only when situations seemed very “weird”). That’s when the LDs became extremely rare. If you look at my signature below you can where things dropped off and picked up.

Now I am back and motivate and I am actually enjoying dream journaling every day. I’ve had some very interesting dreams. However, it can be time consuming and it can be a hassle.

So, my opinion is this: The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. I believe the dream journal will help you achieve more LDs. But you have to weigh the cost (time and effort) against the benefit (more LDs) and decide which is more important to you personally.

Thank you for your replys, it's good to know I don't have to keep a juornal to have LDs (even though it might help me getting more of them), maybe I can get away with only recording my dreams every other day or a few days a week... I'll make sure I up the effort in RC'ing and in awareness during daytime to compensate.

Oh, and Valdast94: That's the correct solution. ;)

I'm not to the point where I have this problem yet, but I think a good way to do it would be to just write down the dreams that you find interesting to write about. After all, what's the point in doing it if it's no fun?

A DJ gives me more dependable dream recall, over all. Without one, sure I'll remember my dreams but it fluctuates. If I'm on top of it, my dreams are not only more dependably recalled but my recollections are more vivid.

For some reason, reaching out into the space where dream memories are formed creates a pattern so that dreams, over all, are closer at hand. It minimizes the gap between waking consciousness and sleeping. I find it very advantageous, but it is a pain in the ass to get yourself to do every morning, let alone when you wake up from a dream in the middle of the night and still have a couple REM cycles in you, yet. However, like any habit, the more often you do it, the easier it is and less motivation it requires. Each time you put it off, it becomes more difficult to do the next time.

I think it depends on what your goals are for dreaming, I consider myself a psychonaut so I want the most vivid wakeful recollection of my dreams I can get.