Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 3: Bedtime
• Method 2 of 3: The next morning
• Method 3 of 3: During the day
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

There are a myriad of theories as to why we sleep, how we sleep, and how we can interpret dreams. Many people believe that dreams can provide insight into our lives and feelings, but the problem is that they are notoriously difficult to remember. With a conscious effort, you can remember more dreams in greater detail.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Bedtime

1. 1 Plan to get a good night's sleep. Dreams occur when our bodies are in a sleep phase known as REM, which means rapid eye movement. The body is resting, but the mind is active due to dreams. If you don't get enough sleep at night or your sleep is interrupted frequently, you will have less REM and fewer dreams. Try to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning so that you are sure to get the right rest.
   • Most people need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night to get enough rest. People who sleep for less than six hours have a hard time remembering dreams because long, more vivid dreams occur in later phases of sleep.
   • Create a calm sleeping environment. Eliminate noisy and distractions that can prevent you from falling into deeper sleep. Wear earplugs if necessary, and make sure you have blackout curtains that block the light from outside.
2. 2 Place your notebook and pen or pencil by your bed. A blank notebook with no drawings or distractions is best. Use this notebook only for recording dreams.Before you go to bed, make sure it's open to the next page you can write on so you don't have to look for a blank page when you wake up.
   • Always keep the pen in the same spot so you don't have to look for that too.
   • An alternative to recording dreams is to use a recorder next to your bed or under your pillow so you can verbally recount what happened in your dream.
3. 3 Keep an alarm clock next to your bed. If you have to get out of bed to turn it off, you are more likely to forget what you dreamed about. Set your alarm so that you get enough sleep. Avoid using a radio alarm, as the ads and chatter of the morning show will be distracting.
   • If you can wake up without an alarm, you don't have to worry about turning it off.
   • If possible, try to use a calmer awakening method. Get someone to wake you up quietly and without talking, or connect a timer to the light in your room. Many people have found that it is easier for them to recall dreams when they are not using the alarm clock.
   • Stick a note on the alarm clock with the text "What did you dream about?" or something similar in large letters so that it is the first thing you see when you open your eyes (and turn off the alarm).
     
     
4. 4 Don't eat, drink alcohol, or take medication before bed. The chemicals in these foods can interfere with your brain's ability to remember dreams. Try not to consume anything at least a few hours before bed, so that nothing interferes with your memory and your dreams.
5. 5 Calm your mind and body before bed. Does your mind usually buzz before bed? Having a lot of stressful thoughts in your head can make it difficult to remember dreams, which requires deep concentration. Before you go to bed, allow your mind to relax and release heavy thoughts. Let him calmly go to sleep.
   • Don't bring your laptop or phone to bed. Corresponding with someone right before bed does not give your mind time to clear.
   • Try meditation or use the classic sheep counting technique to free your mind.
6. 6 Make a conscious decision to remember your dreams. You are more likely to remember dreams if you really want to remember them. Assuming you want it, tell yourself that you will remember dreams and follow these steps conscientiously to make your wish come true.
7. 7 Think about a major problem or emotional concern right before bed. Think deeply about the situation without forcing yourself to make decisions or come to any conclusions. When you just think about a problem, you open the door, in a sense, to remembering dreams more vividly, and dreams can help you even more understand the existing problem.

Method 2 of 3: The next morning

1. 1 Concentrate on remembering your dreams as soon as you wake up. Most likely, you can only remember the dream that you saw right before waking up. Don't move or do anything. Stay in the same position you were in when you woke up and try to remember as much of your dream as possible before thinking about anything else. Think about your dream properly, from start to finish.
   • As you remember, focus your gaze on the first object that you saw when you opened your eyes. Look at the object, focus on it. More often than not, this object will evoke a vague memory of your dream in those areas of memory that are most likely to recall details. A doorknob, a light bulb, or a nail in the wall, for example, can help you delve deeper into the memories of what you experienced while sleeping.
     
     
2. 2 Record your dream in a dream diary. Write down as much as possible about your dream, starting with the main outline, which includes things like the location, the main plot, the characters, the general emotions of the dream (i.e., were you scared or happy in the dream), and any prominent images that you can remember.
   • If you can remember any dialogue, then it should be written down first, since words from a dream are very easily forgotten. Write down everything you can, even if you only remember one image. Once you write down the main thing, other details of the dream may come to mind.
   • If you cannot remember anything from your dream, write down the first thing that comes to your mind upon waking up. It can be related to sleep in some way and can trigger memories. Also write down how you feel when you wake up. The emotions you experience in your sleep tend to remain for at least a short period after waking up, so if you wake up feeling anxious or elated, ask yourself why.
     
     
3. 3 Increase the number of dreams you remember by waking up more often during the night. At night, a person has several REM phases, and they become longer and longer by the morning. If you only wrote down the last dream you had before waking up in the morning, then you had more dreams that you may not have remembered. It’s always tempting to go back to sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night, but take the opportunity to remember what you dreamed before you do it - in all likelihood, you will not remember this in the morning.
   • Since you usually only remember the last dream you saw, you can remember more dreams by waking up several times during the night. We go through a full sleep cycle about every 90 minutes, so it can be productive to set an alarm in multiples of 90 minutes (for example, 4.5, 6, or 7.5 hours) after falling asleep. Dreams in the second half of the night are usually longer than those you see shortly after falling asleep, so it is probably worth waiting at least 4.5 hours before deliberately waking yourself up.
   • This is only recommended for those people who get enough sleep and can fall asleep easily. Otherwise, skip this step.

Method 3 of 3: During the day

1. 1 Keep a notebook or voice recorder handy throughout the day. Often, something you hear or see later in the day will bring up a memory of the previous night's dream. Immediately write these memories down and think about them to see how they fit into the rest of the dream. It also helps to constantly think about your sleep during the day.
2. 2 Return to your bed and lie down. Sometimes the memory can wake up when you take the same physical position that you had during sleep. Try resting your head on the pillow the same way, positioning your body the same way, and closing your eyes. If a dream comes to mind, ponder it before getting up to write it down.
   • It can be helpful to open your eyes and look at the object you saw first when you woke up.
   • Try to create the same atmosphere in the room - close the curtains, turn off the lights and eliminate noise.
3. 3 Try again the next night. Remembering dreams takes effort and practice. The more you become aware of your dreams, the more likely you are to remember them. Get in the habit of remembering your dreams at night and writing them down as soon as you wake up. This will become easier over time.
4. 4 Pay attention to factors. Ultimately, you will figure out what factors help you remember your dreams. Try to notice this pattern, parts of which are the time you go to bed and wake up, the temperature in the room that you ate for dinner. Do any of these factors affect your ability to remember dreams?

Tips

• When recording dreams, remember that the recording is personal. Don't write it down to share with others, as you may find yourself changing things to make them easier for others to understand. Always write what is true, not what makes sense.
• Write down exactly what happened without trying to figure it out. For example, if your dream starts at home and then suddenly finds yourself in the woods, avoid the temptation to think that you left the house. Dreams that are foreign to everyday experience can be lost when you try to apply the logic of the waking mind to events.
• If you have the same dream every other day or a week later, write it down as well.The dream that repeats is the dream that we must focus on. It can be of particular importance.
• If you've already had a dream and want to remember it, don't worry. When you sleep, you are in a completely different state of consciousness. Try lucid dreaming. When you are in this state of consciousness and you have a lucid dream, sometimes you can even remember your past dreams! Think of it as if you have a part of your brain that stores the dreams you have seen, and it is only available to you during sleep.
• Some songs can make your dream stay in your mind a little longer. Try listening to music before you go to bed and see what happens!
• Better yet, do not use any light at all, as it can make it difficult to remember dreams. Just keep a pen and paper close at hand so you don't even have to open your eyes (try not to fall asleep again, though). With practice, you will improve your writing skills without seeing paper.
• After you've remembered most of the dream, try folding it in the correct order. This will help because it is easier to remember something if you know what happened first, and always write it down right away.
• When recording a dream, it may be easier to recall it if you write (or speak) in the present tense (for example, “I am walking” instead of “I am walking”).
• If you are talking in your sleep, you can film yourself using a camera or phone. Or you can use a voice recorder. Listen to it after you write down what you remember. It can bring up memories of dreams you had that you didn't remember when you woke up.
• Alternatively, you can use a small flashlight specifically for recording dreams at night. Cover the flashlight with three layers of tape so you can easily see the notebook, but still the light isn't so bright that you want to close your eyes.
• Take vitamin B6 before bed. This will make your dreams more vivid.

Warnings

• If you are having trouble sleeping or not getting enough sleep, do not try to record your dreams in the middle of the night. Just keep on sleeping.
• Be careful in interpreting dreams. Dream interpretation is not a science, so don't jump to conclusions and don't make dreams too important. For example, dreaming about death does not mean that someone will die or that something bad will happen.

What do you need

• Something to write data
• Something to wake up (preferably calm)
• Voice recorder (optional)