Like the title says, if I know that I will be awakened by my alarm clock at 7 am for school I seem to have less lucid dreams than in the weekends where I can just sleep as long as I like.
Do you think I can do anything to solve this 'problem'? Without shutting down my alarm clock of course. :roll:
Here`s what I do. First of all, I make sure I get enough sleep, so I go to bed around midnight. I set my alarm for 5 am, that gives me enough sleep to feel rested and have longer REM periods. From there, I have until 6:30 am to do whatever technique I want. If I have a long day ahead, then I just do a simple MILD, but if I feel like it, I do this kind of "accelerated WILD" that suits me quite well.
You aren't getting enough sleep. Add an hour or so, and then make your sleep schedule consistent. I've found that when I set my alarm the same time every day rather than only on weekdays, in conjunction with the same bedtime, my recall and lucidity greatly increase. This is because you are keeping your circadian rhythms consistent. So turn your alarm on during the weekends. I sound crazy, don't I?
Consider this: Mondays. You feel pretty crappy/tired on them, right? This is because your body was used to sleeping in for two whole days, and you suddenly switched to an earlier waking time. Meanwhile, your body was already in the process of adapting to the sleep-in schedule of the weekend. Your body will not be able to recognize weekends as your mind does, so this problem will never be rectified unless you sleep consistently each and every day.
I may sound crazy, but it pays off immensely! When I'm on a sleep schedule, recall, lucidity, and even concentration in waking life increase. I slackened my sleep schedule for summer, and it shows... I'm having lucid dreams every other week or so, as opposed to every other day!
Iamerik, I had the same problem. I did something similar to what Abra said. When I go to bed late like getting less than 6 hours of sleep, I don't remember any of my dreams when I wake up. To fix this, I went to bed earlier, like getting 9 hours of sleep. Now, most of the time, I have multiple dreams that I can recall easily. 9 hours also gives me enough time to WILD if I wake up in the early hours of the morning without losing any rest. I feel good when I wake up, and remember all my dreams. Its a win-win situation!
alright, thanks everyone! :dreaming:
Well, the reason you are getting more lucids in the weekends is because you sleep longer, therefore you have more REM periods.
However, I agree with Abra that a consistant sleep schedule does help, because I get up at six in the morning no matter what the day, and I usually have good recall. If you wanted to increase your amount of sleep on the weekends, you should get up early and do anything you need/want to do for two hours and then take a morning nap. (Only on the weekends, though, because you don't want to be late for school.)
Like the others have said, it's pretty much all in the routine! ;)