I started using a voice recorder app on my smart phone halfway through the night before last (before I was using a written journal), and I used it entirely for last night. Boy what a difference! I had 4 awakenings (including the final one where I got up) and recorded 17 different dreams / fragments, way more than any other night! The benfits are:

  • You can talk faster than you can write, getting detail out before your forget it and getting back to bed sooner
  • No trying to read incomprehensible chicken scribbles in the morning
  • You can keep your eyes closed and visualize/remember while you record
  • A smart phone is way smaller than a pad & paper, no fumbling with a pen, turning pages, or getting into a comfortable position to write
  • No fumbling with a light worried about a light bothering bed partner
  • The recorder timestamps each entry so no fumbling around first with the phone / trying to determine the time.
  • You can also record your intended induction technique and how long you stay awake and when you try to go back to sleep.

About the only downside is worry about bothering bed partner with your voice. I tried speaking really quietly and the recorder still picked up my voice quite well enough to transcribe in the morniong.