How To Remember Your DREAMS

Dreams are some of the most interesting experiences of our lives, but they’re all too easy to forget. Motivation is the key to memory. You need to figure out why you want to remember your dreams.

Reasons to Remember Your Dreams

Dreams take time

1. We dream 4-7 dreams per night. That’s about two hours total per night or over 6 years of your life spent in dreamworld.
2. Just because you don’t remember your dreams yet doesn’t mean you didn’t dream.

Dreams help you solve problems

1. Our conscious minds absorb data during the day. As we sleep, our subconscious minds process and make sense of the data.
2. The advice to “sleep on it” is responsible for several artistic and scientific breakthroughs.
3. Paul McCartney came up with Yesterday in a dream.
4. Mary Shelley created Frankenstein in a dream.
5. Albert Einstein developed the theory of relativity, Dmitri Mendeleev saw the periodic table, and Renée Descartes realized the framework for the scientific method – all in dreams.
6. Jack Nicklaus changed his golf swing in a dream.
7. Elias Howes invented the sewing machine partly because of a dream.

6 Kwik Tips to Remembering Your DREAMS

Just remember the acronym DREAMS

D stands for Decide

• Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Make the conscious choice to recall your dreams before you go to sleep.

R stands for Record

• The act of recording your dreams trains your mind to be more sensitized to them.
• Keep a pen/paper or a dedicated dream journal by your bedside, and get a penlight if you can’t see.
• You can also take audio notes on your phone.

E stands for Eyes

• Keep your eyes shut within the first few minutes of waking up, which is when most of our dreams disappear.
• Keeping your eyes closed will help you to reflect on your dreams and not get distracted by your environment.

A stands for Affirm

• Have you ever had to wake up at a certain time and told yourself you would, and then woken up a few minutes before your alarm?
• Affirm that you will remember your dreams. Set the intention before you sleep.
• Repeat this out loud to yourself: I will recall my dreams. I will remember my dreams.

M stands for Manage

• Manage your sleep because you need deep rest to have your dreams.
• Keep a regular sleep routine, clear your mind before bedtime, and practice good sleep hygiene.

S stands for Share

• Share your dreams and talk about them with others.
• The more you acknowledge your dreams and bring them to the surface, the easier it is to remember them.

Kwik Homework

• The ability to recall dreams is a skill learned through practice and persistence. Don’t get discouraged if it takes you some time to remember your dreams. The more you work at it, the easier it will become.
• If you need more help, consider our Recall Masterclass. This 12-week program is the most advanced online memory training in the world.
• One interesting side effect of remembering more of your dreams is lucid dreaming. A lucid dream is a dream in which you are aware you are dreaming.
• When you lucid dream, you can have adventures, solve problems, and undertake creative endeavors in your sleep.
• If you want a Kwik Brain episode on lucid dreaming, let me know on social media @jimkwik.