Hi dreamers !

I have seen many lucid dreaming tutorials and most of them mentioned about having a dream journal. I am aware that this can help us recall our dreams better, but I don't know how this can help us lucid dream? Or does it?

Also, can anyone tell me how stress affects our dreams? In most cases, I don't rest before i sleep; i usually do my homework/study then go to bed straight away. Is this a bad thing? Would this lead to a lower chance of lucid dreaming?