On average, a human spends one third (8 hours) of it’s time sleeping. That’s a lot and one of the reasons I decided to dip my interest into dreaming and dream recall.

With trial and error, I’ve made a modified version of the WILD method that works for me with a success-rate of about 80% for dream recall, no lucid state yet. So here is how it works:

1. Determine the amount of sleep you want to get (preferring a multiple of 1.5 hours such as 7.5)
2. Set two alarm clocks, one half an hour in advance of the other. The last alarm should be the time you want to wake up.
3. Put the first alarm in reach so you can turn it off immediately after it wakes you up (I use my iPhone for this one)
4. I place the second one straight across the room which forces me to get out of bed (harsh but it works).
5. Done, now go forth and sleep.

This setup improved my dream-recall and works about 80% of the time. I ordered a FitBit to track movements during sleep for additional statistics, but as Tim Ferriss notes in the 4 Hour Body, movement does not equal certain sleep-states like REM or deep sleep. Nevertheless it should give me more insight in how my sleep progresses during the night.

Other things I can recommend is to get a separate notebook for writing down your dreams. Even though my writings are really bad, it helps with the recall process if everything is put into one place. Also try little tweaks like F.lux.

Next step: lucid dreaming or changing sleep patterns.