I've been trying to meditate. In the past, I've tried to meditate by relaxing and clearing my mind, which was very boring and felt more-or-less like trying to be asleep.

More recently I've tried meditating in more-or-less the opposite way — trying to be very alert and aware. This is much less boring. I've been trying to remain conscious all day. I notice that while I'm awake, I'm not always really conscious.. sometimes my consciousness drifts as I go into auto-pilot, and I'll "wake up" after a bit, remembering everything I did, mostly, but I won't have really been there.