The most well accepted technique for increasing dream recall, vividness, and chances of getting lucid is called Wake-Back-To-Bed. It involves waking up for a period of time in the early morning then going back to sleep. The awake period can be used to set intention and prepare for a lucid dream. The process usually causes the last REM period to be extra vivid.

The Wake-Back-To-Bed technique is flexible on what time you get up and for how long, but it seems to be effective if you wake up 2 hours before you need to get up in the morning, and stay awake for 20 or 30 minutes, as show by the graph on the right.

To do the Wake-Back-To-Bed technique you may need 2 alarm clocks: one to go off about two hours before the time you need to get up in the morning, and the other alarm clock can be set to the time you need to get up in the morning. (Note: a progressive alarm clock is best). At the time you can get out of bed, read, write, meditate, or go outside for about 20 minutes. Be aware and present to your state of mind, and accept that you could be dreaming now, and will be soon. Then go back to bed for the next 90 minutes or so with the intent to remember your dreams more clearly.

You may want to use ear plugs and a blind fold to help you fall back to sleep after waking up. If falling back to sleep is a challenge for you, you should try some relaxation techniques or listen to sleep hypnosis. You may need to adjust the time you wake up to find what works best for you. Doing this technique on a day you can sleep in is ideal.