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Sleep-Storming: 4 Ways to Come Up With Ideas While You Snooze

Ever jolted out of bed with a hit of inspiration so great that you had to act on it? I know I’ve woken up with article ideas, taglines, logo inspiration … even what song I MUST listen to in order to get my day started (hey, it’s important) … that comes seemingly out of nowhere.

The phenomenon isn’t uncommon — in fact, “sleep-storming” is now being called the new brainstorming by Calm (dude, if you haven’t been to their site or app yet, DO IT NOW. It’s great). Scientists have been studying “structured unconscious generative ideation” and have found that you can actually boost your odds of generating and capturing new ideas while you sleep by following a few tips. Here are four simple ways to do just that, suggested by Calm.

1. Ask Your Subconscious the Question You’re Trying to Answer

Instead of just falling asleep, brief or prime your subconscious to generate new ideas. Before falling asleep, ask yourself the question that you’re trying to answer; then, finally, focus on something else, such as reading or relaxation techniques.

2. Keep a Notebook Handy to Write Down Your Dreams

It can be hard to remember your dreams and/or any ideas they inspire the next day, so, always keep a notebook by your bed. Get into the habit of writing down your dreams — and any ideas they might trigger — immediately on waking and almost before you are fully awake. Write down every dream you can recall rather than being selective. The act of writing them down helps you build a relationship with your subconscious, which should in turn help improve your dream recall.

3. Wake Yourself Mid-Sleep

Waking yourself while dreaming or starting to fall asleep was a technique used by both Salvador Dalí and Thomas Edison. Dali would put a tin plate on the floor and then sit on a chair beside it, holding a spoon over the plate. He’d then try to doze off so that the spoon would fall and wake him. Edison did similar but with ball bearings and a saucepan. The aim for both was to jolt themselves awake in order to capture ideas from their dreams.

4. Learn to Have Lucid Dreams

Lucid dreaming is the sense of being consciously aware that you are dreaming. This state can help you to explore ideas, control elements of your dream and have better than normal dream recall. Learning to dream lucidly takes time and practice. Try repeating a mantra telling yourself that you want to dream or know that you are dreaming and, for example, want to be aware that you are dreaming and to remember the dream.

Ever sleep-stormed your way to a great idea? Fun facts: It’s reported that one of Einstein’s dreams helped him come up with the theory of relativity and the Beatles song “Yesterday” came to Paul McCartney in his sleep one night in 1964. —Jenn

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Comments

13 Comments
  1. Nice article..
    Definitely wanna try it soon..

  2. Andy Low says:

    I have snooze problem. It’s very helpful

  3. peter says:

    Lucid dreaming is the sense of being consciously aware that you are dreaming. This state can help you to explore ideas, control elements of your dream and have better than normal dream recall. Learning to dream lucidly takes time and practice. Try repeating a mantra telling yourself that you want to dream or know that you are dreaming and, for example, want to be aware that you are dreaming and to remember the dream.

  4. Thanks for your article
    I think that it will help me in my job. It’s very interesting, you should read it if you want to have some useful information.

  5. Ngan Tran says:

    Hi everyone,
    I come from Viet Nam, I love technology. So I want to learn more about it, after I read your writing, I realize that snooze is very important. If you feel tired, you only need to sleep one hour, you will feel better.

  6. Ux Testing says:

    Actually, when you are sleeping, you will think of many things such as your life, your future, your job. At that time, you will see anything that you want, it’s your imagination. Sometimes, your dream is very useful because you will imagine some wonderful solutions for your job. I think that we should try to remember our dream.

  7. Thanks for your article!
    I think that people can learn a lot of knowledge on this blog

  8. Alex says:

    Thanks for sharing.
    Nice article..
    Definitely wanna try it soon..

  9. Alex says:

    Nice article!
    Thanks for sharing.

  10. Ngan Tran says:

    An interesting blog!
    It can help me improve my job in the future.
    Thank you so much

  11. Kratika says:

    Great post! Love reading such posts. We can do so much in our sleep!

  12. Maria Tran says:

    Exciting articles for customers!

  13. Thanks for your writing!
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Comments are closed.