Every day, we’re bombarded with so many outside stimuli that we can’t process them all. Most of what our five senses pick up never even reaches our conscious mind—and that’s totally okay.
If it did, our brains would be overwhelmed with information, making it impossible to focus. Instead, our brain has a clever way of storing what really matters and reveals some of it to us through our dreams.
The tricky part? We usually don’t remember these dreams for very long.
Dreams That Changed the World
Many inventions and ideas have been born from dreams. Did you know Paul McCartney came up with the melody for "Yesterday" while asleep? Luckily, he remembered it upon waking, and soon that song topped the charts.
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein also came from a dream—her nighttime rest sparked the idea for this timeless story.
That’s why starting a dream journal is so worth it—most people only remember their dreams for a few hours or days. Who knows? Your next big idea might be waiting in your dreams!
The Best Time: Right After Waking Up
Dreams aren’t just fun—they can seriously boost your creativity. Writing them down and revisiting your notes activates different parts of your brain.
What does this mean? You’ll start thinking in new ways and see your ideas and feelings from fresh perspectives.
The ideal time to keep a dream journal is in the morning, right after waking up. On average, a person dreams about 100 minutes each night during REM sleep, with the longest dreams happening in the early morning hours.
How to Get Started
Keeping a dream journal can also bring you closer to the unique experience of lucid dreaming. When writing, capture every little detail and use the present tense—it helps your memory.
Think carefully about the places, people, feelings, and sounds you encountered in your dreams, and underline the motifs that stand out to you.
Finally, jot down what’s going on in your life right now. Maybe you’re nursing a broken heart or facing challenges at work—these notes can help you make sense of your dreams over time, as we often understand them better and learn from them later.
