Hi Dasein, welcome to Dreamviews!

Congratulations on the success of your dream journal. To answer your question about reality checks, you've got one of the best times to do them - when you realize that something is strange. This may be a train of thought, or changing text. Also do a reality check if a device doesn't work properly (they usually don't in dreams).

Always do that, but also do a reality check when a common dream sign appears in real life. This is an effective technique, because dream signs are chosen because they appear in your dreams a lot. Simply go over your dream journal and pick out common elements to use as your dream signs. Then reality check when you see one of these.

I hope this helps.