Thread: Can't motivate to write dreams in the morning

I often have this problem as well. Usually I'll remember my dream pretty well when my alarm initially goes off, but I'll always want to hit the snooze button. "It's okay, I'll remember it in 10 minutes, I'll write it then," I foolishly tell myself. Three snooze cycles later, pretty much everything's is gone from my memory.

One thing to try if you hate writing your dreams down in the morning is to use a voice recorder, and just speak your dreams into it when you wake up. It might be a little weird if you have roommates like me, but if you have your bedroom to yourself it's a lot easier than writing. You can optionally go back later and listen to your recording and write your dreams when it's more convenient.

If not, you could always try just writing key words in the morning. Keep a notepad close to your bed and write down very short notes - I'm talking 5-20 words max, depending on how long your dream was. Then later, when it's more convenient, reread your notes and write out your full dream. At first, you might forget some of the finer details of the dream, but as long as you get the general gist of the dream you should be good. Plus, as you get used to recalling your dreams, you'll be able to remember those details easier.

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by spellbee2

I often have this problem as well. Usually I'll remember my dream pretty well when my alarm initially goes off, but I'll always want to hit the snooze button. "It's okay, I'll remember it in 10 minutes, I'll write it then," I foolishly tell myself. Three snooze cycles later, pretty much everything's is gone from my memory.

One thing to try if you hate writing your dreams down in the morning is to use a voice recorder, and just speak your dreams into it when you wake up. It might be a little weird if you have roommates like me, but if you have your bedroom to yourself it's a lot easier than writing. You can optionally go back later and listen to your recording and write your dreams when it's more convenient.

If not, you could always try just writing key words in the morning. Keep a notepad close to your bed and write down very short notes - I'm talking 5-20 words max, depending on how long your dream was. Then later, when it's more convenient, reread your notes and write out your full dream. At first, you might forget some of the finer details of the dream, but as long as you get the general gist of the dream you should be good. Plus, as you get used to recalling your dreams, you'll be able to remember those details easier.

Hope that helps!

I was going to try the short notes. Hopefully I'll be able to motivate to at least do that much

One way to stay motivated might be to remind yourself how important writing down your dreams is for LD'ing success, because it is. Sometimes you can push laziness aside when you know what you have to do is important.

Also, you needn't feel compelled to write down all your dreams; instead, pick your favorite of the night, or perhaps the one whose details you best remember; that bit of trimming should not harm the process, I think.

You are not a morning writer you say? Maybe there is a little trick that doesn't envolve you writing your dreams down but still getting them remembered. Are you a morning talker? I mean, are you willing to record a couple of sentences when you get up? It literally takes you five minutes and it means so much because next time you hear your voice you will remember that moment and how you felt at that particular moment so it will be a little easier for you to remember the dream. If you are not a morning talker, say so i have another trick.

Also try using a voice recorder (all smart phones have apps for this too). You can do it while still lying in bed, with your eyes closed, and you can talk a lot faster than you can write. You can also record only summaries, and then type up the full thing later in the day. As for motivation, having a positive attitude towards your dreams goes a long way in having more vivid dreams, which leads to lucidity.

Originally Posted by AstralPhreak

You are not a morning writer you say? Maybe there is a little trick that doesn't envolve you writing your dreams down but still getting them remembered. Are you a morning talker? I mean, are you willing to record a couple of sentences when you get up? It literally takes you five minutes and it means so much because next time you hear your voice you will remember that moment and how you felt at that particular moment so it will be a little easier for you to remember the dream. If you are not a morning talker, say so i have another trick.

I'm even less a talker than I am a writer..
is writing this stuff really that important? what's the point in writing stuff down?

^^ I think there a couple of good points:

First, there is something about the act of writing down your dreams that helps them to be stored in your memory, so you can more easily recall them later -- or remember them at all, because your memory doesn't tend to store NLD's on its own. By better recalling your dreams you are making them a part of your waking-life, and therefore much more familiar to you than the wispy remnants you would normally leave behind upon waking. That familiarity should make it much easier to recognize that you are dreaming, and much more comfortable and calm in the dream when that happens. [I personally believe that you must actually write your dreams down by hand, and in as much detail as possible, to move them to long-term memory, but others seem to have had good recults using recording devices]

Next, recording your dreams allows you to identify recurring dream signs so that you can prepare yourself to notice them in later dreams as an aid to becoming lucid (i.e., in a dream you see that you are in your grandmother's house and say, "Hey, I dream I'm here all the time; could this be a dream?" and, one RC later, your lucid adventure begins!).

There are probably other good reasons to keep a dream journal, but those are the two that I think matter most.


Also, writing down your dreams is like creating a diary of a substantial part of your conscious life that would otherwise be forgotten, and this could be most entertaining and fulfilling in years to come (a good reason to write down as much detail as possible as well).

Instead of writing my dreams down immediately after I wake up, I wait until I've picked out my clothes for the day and taken my morning shower (the first things I do in the morning). While I'm showering, I try to remember as much about my dreams as I can. I frequently remember dreams or details of dreams in the shower that I didn't remember immediately after waking up. I also feel more awake and motivated to write in my dream journal after I take a shower in the morning. The important part for not forgetting your dreams is to keep thinking about your dreams between waking up and writing them down.

Originally Posted by Sageous

^^ I think there a couple of good points:

First, there is something about the act of writing down your dreams that helps them to be stored in your memory, so you can more easily recall them later -- or remember them at all, because your memory doesn't tend to store NLD's on its own. By better recalling your dreams you are making them a part of your waking-life, and therefore much more familiar to you than the wispy remnants you would normally leave behind upon waking. That familiarity should make it much easier to recognize that you are dreaming, and much more comfortable and calm in the dream when that happens. [I personally believe that you must actually write your dreams down by hand, and in as much detail as possible, to move them to long-term memory, but others seem to have had good recults using recording devices]

Next, recording your dreams allows you to identify recurring dream signs so that you can prepare yourself to notice them in later dreams as an aid to becoming lucid (i.e., in a dream you see that you are in your grandmother's house and say, "Hey, I dream I'm here all the time; could this be a dream?" and, one RC later, your lucid adventure begins!).

There are probably other good reasons to keep a dream journal, but those are the two that I think matter most.


Also, writing down your dreams is like creating a diary of a substantial part of your conscious life that would otherwise be forgotten, and this could be most entertaining and fulfilling in years to come (a good reason to write down as much detail as possible as well).

I usually recapture the dream I was just in as soon as I wake up so I don't forget it later. Of course, after a while, you forget some older insignificant dreams.
- But as I write this, I remember doing a DD on an excel a while ago and it kinda helped a bit with my LD progress, so I might just try with paper again tomorrow morning..