Lucid dream journal: how to keep one, with a free template

Why a dream journal comes first

Lucid dreaming techniques work on dreams you can remember. People report more dreams when they keep a daily dream log than when they estimate their recall afterwards, and one explanation researchers at the University of Adelaide reviewed in 2015 is that keeping the log itself boosts recall. In the 2017 University of Adelaide study of lucid dreaming techniques, people with better dream recall had more success with MILD, the method of intending to notice that you are dreaming.

So the journal is not a side habit. It is the base the techniques stand on.

Sources: Aspy, Delfabbro & Proeve, Is dream recall underestimated by retrospective measures and enhanced by keeping a logbook? A review, Consciousness and Cognition 2015 (PubMed) · Aspy et al., Reality testing and the mnemonic induction of lucid dreams, Dreaming 2017 (APA) · University of Adelaide: Want to control your dreams? (2017)

What to write each morning (the template)

Use the same fields every day so entries are easy to compare later. A short entry written straight away beats a long one written at lunch.

• Date, and the time you woke up (note it if you woke during the night).
• The dream itself: places, people, actions and objects, in the order you remember them. Fragments are fine.
• Feelings in the dream and on waking, and how strong they were.
• Anything odd or impossible: a dead relative alive, a house with extra rooms, text that changed. These are your candidate dream signs.
• Lucid? Yes, no, or almost. If yes: what made you realise, and how long it lasted.
• Technique used that night (reality checks, wake back to bed, MILD) and when you fell back asleep.

Write before you sit up or reach for your phone, as the Sleep Foundation advises.

Sources: Sleep Foundation: What Is a Dream Journal Used For? (updated 2025)

Finding your dream signs

A useful habit is to look for dream signs: themes, places or people that recur between your dreams. Once a week, read back through your entries and underline what repeats.

Turn each sign into a cue. If you often dream of being back at school, make "Am I at school? Then I may be dreaming" part of your reality checks and of the intention you repeat with MILD.

1. 1Read the last seven entries in one sitting.
2. 2Underline places, people, objects and situations that appear more than once.
3. 3Mark the impossible details: those make the best cues.
4. 4Pick one or two signs and use them in your reality checks for the next week.

Using the journal with MILD tonight

In the 2017 study, people who fell asleep within five minutes of finishing MILD had the best results, so keep the night-time note short.

1. 1Before sleep, read yesterday's entry and your current dream signs.
2. 2If you wake in the night (or after a wake-back-to-bed alarm), write a few words about the dream you just had.
3. 3Repeat your intention ("Next time I'm dreaming, I will notice that I'm dreaming"), picture yourself in that dream spotting one of your signs, and go back to sleep.
4. 4In the morning, write the full entry and mark whether you became lucid.

Sources: Aspy et al., Reality testing and the mnemonic induction of lucid dreams, Dreaming 2017 (APA) · University of Adelaide: Want to control your dreams? (2017)

Paper notebook or app?

Either works; what matters is that it is within reach and quick to use half-asleep. Paper avoids the screen in the middle of the night. An online journal is searchable, which makes hunting for dream signs faster.

You can use both for free here: print the dream journal template, or keep entries in our online dream journal, which stays on your device with no account.