I am Damien Catani, CEO of goalmap, and I gave this talk at the #QS15 Quantified Self conference in San Francisco in june 2015. Let me tell you about these 7,459 dreams I have been religiously writing down for the last 17 years.

1. Dreaming numbers
Damien Catani
Let me tell you about these 7,459 dreams I have been religiously
logging and writing down for the last 17 years

2. A disruptive teenage crisis Why
2

3. Need for reconstruction Why

4. Dreams as a key to the self
4
What (do)
Dreams played a central role in the reconstruction process.
I started to write them down - all those I could remember – to explore my subconscious
and go through some kind of self psychoanalysis/therapy.

5. My dream tracking process How
5
1. Dream 2. Memorize
No tools

6. My dream tracking process How
6
3. Crystallize 4. Register
Tools

7. Why crystallize first then register? How
7
Dream
Memorize
Crystallize Register
The rationale for the intermediate crystallization is that it’s difficult to memorize more
than 2 to 3 dreams. By making a quick note which will be enough to remember the full
dream you empty your mind and are ready for a refill

8. ‘Crystallize’ tools: back to basics How
8
Sophistication
Time

9. ‘Register’ tools: tech’ing up How
9
Sophistication
Time

10. Key dream stats What (learn)
10
Dream tracking period 17.55 years
Total number of dreams logged 7,459
Average number of dreams / night 1.21
Highest number of dreams / night 14 (Aug. 28, 1998)
Longest >=1 dream streak 58 days (May 30, 2015)
Longest 0 dream streak 21 days (Oct. 3, 2005)

11. Where does the number come from? What (learn)
11
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Jun-05 Jun-06 Jun-07 Jun-08 Jun-09 Jun-10 Jun-11 Jun-12 Jun-13 Jun-14 Jun-15
Dreams per day over the past 10 years
Can we explain or even influence the number of dreams we have per night?
It’s difficult at first sight to identify patterns

12. Where does the number come from? What (learn)
12
Dreams per day over the past 10 years (50-day moving average)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
If we look instead at moving averages to get rid of the daily volatility, the overall trend is
clearer. But we still have to explain it

13. Where does the number come from? What (learn)
13
- Cyclicality: week and year
Is there a variability of the number of dreams through the year or the week?
- Correlations
Is it correlated with other activities?
- Momentum and inertia
Is there any momentum or inertia?
- Goal-setting
Can I consciously influence my subconscious through goal-setting?

14. Weekly cyclicality What (learn)
14
16.7%
15.5%
13.3% 13.7%
10.8%
13.0%
17.1%
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Dreams per day of the week (as percentage of total dreams)
Days of the week are not created equal when it comes to dreaming

15. 0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
01/01
16/01
31/01
15/02
01/03
16/03
31/03
15/04
30/04
15/05
30/05
14/06
29/06
14/07
29/07
13/08
28/08
12/09
27/09
12/10
27/10
11/11
26/11
11/12
26/12
Yearly cyclicality What (learn)
15
Number of dreams per day of the year (30-day moving average, last 10 years)
Similar pattern within the year: the lows are around the summer and the Xmas breaks
which are the weekends of the year (traveling, disruptions to lifestyle habits)

16. Correlations What (learn)
16
12.3%
-1.8% -2.0%
alcohol sport sex
There is a positive correlation between remembering dreams and drinking alcohol…

17. The more I sleep, the more I dream What (learn)
17
-23%
-4%
2%
5%
34%
0h-7h
7h-8h
8h-9h
9h-10h
10h-12h
Number of dreams per sleep hour brackets (variance to the mean)

18. Beware inertia What (learn)
18
22% more chance to have 0 dream at night if I had 0
dream the night before

19. Surf the momentum What (learn)
19
56% more chance to have 3 dreams at night or more
if I had 3 dreams or more the night before

20. Surf the momentum What (learn)
20
Running streaks (>=1 dream nights) and number of dreams (50-day moving average)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Jun-05
Dec-05
Jun-06
Dec-06
Jun-07
Dec-07
Jun-08
Dec-08
Jun-09
Dec-09
Jun-10
Dec-10
Jun-11
Dec-11
Jun-12
Dec-12
Jun-13
Dec-13
Jun-14
Dec-14
Jun-15

21. Adding goal-setting into the mix How
21
Can I consciously influence my subconscious through goal-setting?

22. Until April 13th, 2013:
First, qualitative goal How
22
“Write down all the dreams I can
remember each night”

23. From September 10th, 2012:
Then, quantitative How
23
“Remember (and write down) at
least 1 dream per night on average”

24. Wow, setting goals work! What (learn)
24
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Introduction of a
quantified goal
2.040.73
Looks like I internalized subconsciously the targets I fixed consciously…

25. Aim high and forget safety nets What (learn)
25
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Quantified goal
only
Qualitative goal-setting Quantitative goal-setting
0.73 1.78 2.11

26. Make your goal public What (learn)
26
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Signed up to talk about
dreams at the QS15
conference
Qualitative goal-setting Quantitative goal-setting
0.73 1.78 1.84 2.64

27. Dreaming numbers
Damien Catani
@DamienCatani on Twitter
www.goalmap.com