Thanks @jeremycrow for the info. I've struggled for decades with lucid dreaming, ever since reading Stephen Laberge's books when I was very young around 30 years ago.
Your tips agree with his advice from his book if I recall. My downfall has always been my laziness when it comes to keeping a journal.
I did manage to achieve the state on at least two occasions that I can remember. The very first time was cool. It should be said that getting excited about the realization makes it hard to stay in the dream.
Cheers!
Laziness with journaling is tough..I can relate. It is hard to stay motivated. I find sharing with others can help keep you accountable and motivated. I like to compromise by voice recording my dreams and make it easier on myself. This lets me still capture my dreams, then later when I feel like doing some self-reflecting I will type them up.
I wrote a post about this once. Maybe you'd enjoy it, here it is:
FINDING THE TIME TO DREAM JOURNAL
Thanks for the tip. I thought about a using a voice recorder but I find it a little awkward since I share the bed with my wife. Not sure if she'd appreciate hearing about the wild women in my dreams. Excuses! I know.. :)
That's true! and an acceptable excuse. My partner says he doesn't care if I voice record but I find it awkward too if he is sleeping there.
Here's another tool that makes dream journaling more convienient: These light up pens cut out the middle steps of turning on a lamp, or opening up apps on your cell phone to type... They don't disturb anyone sleeping next to you either. Plus they are really fun! You can buy them online...
Thanks! I'll definitely look into it. :)