Quote Originally Posted by lenscaper View Post
I have been having better success recently by telling myself often during the day that "This is a dream". I find that every time I say that my attention snaps right back to my surroundings. It seems to automatically heighten awareness of my surroundings. At night, when falling asleep after SSILD cycles, I calmly tell myself, "Say the words, man...this is a dream." When it works it's very strong....I enter the dream and say the words...and there is no doubt that it's a dream.
I am always looking for new ways to quickly bring myself to the present moment, and though I've used "This is a dream" in waking many times before, I don't think I have used it specifically to become present and you are right, it is very effective for that purpose, bringing everything around me into super-clear focus/very vivid.

Quote Originally Posted by Tygar View Post
I've had a couple of dreams where I am confused and frustrated by things that don't make sense. Based on past experience this is a good sign. For me this means that a small amount of rational thinking is finding it's way into my dreams which causes me to question strange things in my dreams. I'm hoping to get lucid soon, even if it is brief.
I agree, this is a good sign. Anything not working on our smart phone is also a common dream sign. You and I share the sky dream sign it looks like. It is one of my favorite ways to become lucid, looking up into the sky and noticing unusual movement in the sky or anything unusual.