I keep having dreadful work-related dreams

Nothing worse than stressing about excel / your boss / your projects in your sleep. Repeating scenarios / conversations / interactions. This has been going on for ~3 months now as work has become more stressful & monotonous.

The only thing that seems to help sometimes is leaving at least ~2 hours before I go to bed for relaxation / fun / exercise / fiction reading. Or when I wasn't too busy to have a gf, some quality coitus time.

Problem is, only one-two nights a week I have this amount of free time. Same thing happened in ugrad during the more stressful times.

Any advice WSO? Should I get a shrink?

13 Comments
 

If this keeps going on, get help. It can spiral out of control real fast.

"That was basically college for me, just ya know, fuckin' tourin' with Widespread Panic over the USA."
 

find ways to channel your stress into something productive- assuming you ascend the ladder, you're job is going to get increasingly stressful(imagine the stress Blankfein or Deutsche CEO is under daily). The most successful people are able to channel- learn a new hobby or something.

If all else fails I agree with thebrofessor- try to not baste for a couple days.

 
Best Response

This is common for many of us working around the clock in high stress environments.

The brain takes into your dreams whatever is top of mind, and that 2 hour break before sleep is helpful in resetting. When you can't get that (and as often as you like), practice this:

  • In the time before you go to bed, begin filling your mind with the thoughts you want: e.g. feeling like you have it under control, imagining all of your work coming together effortlessly.
  • Then, when you put your head on the pillow, close your eyes, and visualize how you want tomorrow to be. Maybe you have tons to do, but you're just sitting there cranking away, no stress. Maybe it just comes together much easier, etc.
  • It's crucial that this isn't an "intellectual exercise," but that you access that way of feeling (e.g. how does it feel when you have tons on your plate, you feel like it's the same crap every day, and you're not sure you will get it done? Now, contrast that to how it feels when you feel like "I've got this. It's under control. It's all good." Now, that might not be true, but the more you can train your brain to feel like you've got it handled, the less it needs to keep thinking about it while you sleep.
Former banker and investor, advisor to senior Wall Street pros. Learn more at geoffblades.com
 

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