Many think analog watches, the ones with “hands” on the watch face, have little practical purpose in today’s world.
People don’t seem to need them, they say. There are digital clocks everywhere: on your phone, on your computer, on your TV screen. In many places, children are taught to use them, but they forget. Telling time on an analog device isn’t reinforced by daily life the way it once was. There are a lot of other things to learn.
Any analog watch face you encounter comes down to being a style choice.
Yet, while analog clock faces are a fringe style choice, the idea of wearing a watch is far from dead. A fitness tracker, for example, is another type of wristwatch. It does more than tell time. It measures your step count, active minutes, your sleep, and more.
When it comes to dream journaling, both types of watches can be used as a memory device.
Types of memory devices
Whether old-school wristwatch, fitness tracker, or some other kind of specialty device the thing on your wrist can serve as a memory device to help you remember dreams.
It’s the way that it’s used that makes it a memory device. It can be a plastic bracelet, a religious one, or even a piece of tape that you stick on your wrist.
How a memory device or bracelet works
The idea behind wearing a memory bracelet—whatever its form—is to allow your subconscious mind to differentiate between being awake and asleep. If you go to sleep wearing your watch on the same wrist that you wear it while you’re awake, there’s less of a perceptible difference.
Laying down doesn’t seem to count. Sometimes you’re awake and reclining in a chair or reclining on a sofa. If you switch the watch to your opposite wrist when you’re laying down for the night, your subconscious is going to have concrete “proof” that you’re asleep and dreaming. You’ll be more likely to remember your dreams.
Be sure to switch your watch back to your preferred daytime wrist when you get ready for the day.
Many fitness trackers can be used to measure your sleep. The measures are of limited usefulness. What really matters is how you feel when you wake up. Basically, it’s something to do related to sleep. Get that “sleep number” but also get something really useful too: the context of your dreams!
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