Although my experience with dream journaling didn’t produce the results I was hoping for (improving my memory of both my dreams and in general), it was a fun experience that you can start at any time.
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Dream journaling is what it sounds like — you write down the dreams you have each night in a notebook or phone app.
Those who try this (or want to) might do so for a number of reasons, but I did so to see if it would help enhance my ability to remember my dreams and my day-to-day memory.
Results weren’t what I had hoped for, but those who try this in the long term might see some improvements. It’s hard to say because no scientific evidence suggests that it will.
Between June 22 and July 22, I recorded my dreams in the Notes app on my phone. I usually reach for my phone first thing in the morning (terrible habit, I know), so that’s why I chose to use it as my “journal.”
You might elect to keep a physical journal, and I’m here to tell you that as long as you have a place where you can consistently write down your dreams, you have all the equipment you need. A recorder is another option if you’d rather speak your dreams aloud.
In each entry, I wrote down the date in addition to the details of my dreams. You can choose to be as thorough or brief with your entries as you want.
Because I wanted to capture as much detail as possible, I wrote mostly in full sentences. But it didn’t always work when parts of my dreams were fragmented or I had a hard time recalling them.
In sum, choose a journaling setup that works for you. It might also take you a few entries to decide on your format (which might change daily).
I didn’t notice any discernible change (for better or worse) in my memory after dream journaling for a month.
In all honesty, I only remembered my dreams about half of the time, and I didn’t remember more at the end of the experiment than at the beginning.
I did, however, sometimes spontaneously remember my dream or parts of it as I was working or doing another task, and I would immediately write it down.
What sparked these sudden memories is unknown, as the tasks I was doing were unrelated to the content of my dream
Some things that helped me increase the chance of remembering my dream include:
- Thinking about my dream: Once I woke up, I lay there for a minute, thinking about what had happened in my dream before writing it down. Doing this helped me get a better picture, so I could write a more detailed entry.
- Writing down my dream right away: I sometimes went through my morning routine before journaling, and even if I had remembered it at first or thought about it upon waking up, I ended up forgetting it altogether.
- Telling myself to remember my dream before falling asleep: This might sound strange, but thinking “I want to remember my dream” before I fell asleep helped with retention when I woke up.
The majority of evidence on dream journaling boosting memory is anecdotal, meaning it comes from personal experience (like mine).
A mental health nonprofit, Takes 2 Minutes, suggests that journaling about dreams can train your brain to better remember them. It also indicates that it can help boost overall memory.
But no scientific studies have examined this claim in depth, so no conclusions can be made between dream journaling and memory.
However, a 2024 study of college-age students found that writing in general (at many times of day) may improve working memory.
Working memory is a mix of attention ability and holding information in the moment while you work with it before it turns into short-term memory.
It’s important to note that because this study looked at the physical act of writing, the same findings may not apply if you verbally record or type your dreams. Maybe that was where I went wrong.
While the effect on my memory is questionable (through experience and given limited scientific evidence), it was interesting to reflect on my dreams and read about them later.
Even still, I probably won’t continue this in the long term. I might write down a particularly strange or vivid dream every once in a while, but not every morning.
Perhaps if I continued this in the long term and made it a habit to physically write my dreams down, I would notice a more positive change in my memory retention.
I tried writing down my dreams, an activity known as dream journaling, for 1 month in hopes of improving my memory, which I heard could occur from anecdotal evidence.
After my trial month, I didn’t notice any discernible changes in my memory, but it’s interesting to read past dreams. I probably won’t make a habit of it, though, in the long term.
If you want to give it a try for yourself, all you need is somewhere to write down or record your dreams. Have fun looking back on what you’ve dreamed!