Dream Journal Recording methods

I understand the importance of a dream journal, but over the years I have wondered if there are easier ways to record them

A few years ago I thought about using a Dictaphone, to record down what I remember when I awake from sleep. The reason this thought came, was because, I was out of work, but knowing that when I did get a job it would be very tough to record each morning my experiences.

I had a thought that day "is using a Dictaphone to record dreams cheating?"

Are there other methods?
What are they?

Last night I thought again about this, here what i came up with this time: Maybe the members of DV can help, or have some other suggestions/methods

Please help.

Using a Dictaphone is most certainly not cheating :). I can't do it personally but if you can it sounds like a great way to record dreams, and those that are interesting you can write up in detail later if you want.
If you don't have much time to write stuff in the morning then using tags can be a good option. StaySharp has a guide here.
Also check out the Dream Recall Compendium for more tips.
Good Luck!

I just have my journal on my phone. Here is an excerpt.

Quote:

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Walking around. Talk of a hidden pool

DR. Hidden pool. Chilling out. He didn't want me in particular to find.

Ninja store. Clerk likes me a lot. Shows me something on her phone. Wants me to put my number in.

Parents side yard. Crossing over and grabbing some food.

Church basketball game. Tell Laura about my dream. She is doing stuff the whole time. gma in the b-room

parking twice. Second time someone tells me that it is because I am a kid. They take me to a campsite far away. Snakes and spiders are everywhere. Golf cart there. Prong hitting the dog annoying lady.

---

This was about 10 days ago or so. Each space is a different awakening. I used this:
http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-sign...m-journal.html

To get my recall up to a point that I didn't need to DJ fully. (it would help me to DJ fully, but it would take a long time that would not be worth it unless I had an hour or so of free time.

Anyway you can record your dreams is a good, successful way. Some methods work better for certain people, so you might try to experiment with it, but if you want to give it a whirl then by all means do so.

I've tried to record myself talking into my phone once, but I decided it wasn't for me. (I kept nearly falling asleep in mid-sentence.)

I'm pretty sure any way to record dreams is perfectly valid, as long as it gives you a considerable amount of dreams each night. I've tried many things, but right now I'm using a physical journal. At first it doesn't look like the most convenient way to record dreams, but I'm a bit old-school and I like being able to take notes on a physical notebook.

Like Martakartus I prefer the old school way to journal. You have to slow down and think what you are writing. Often details I forgot come back to me while writing down. Mulling it over I think helps in several ways: Your subconscious realizes you are serious about lucid dreaming. You often pick out dream signs while journalling. Sometimes you realize where that dream came from (the events in RL that triggered it). You come to understand the need or desire you have that the dream symbolized for you. Maybe you can get that with other methods, but this works for me.