Sunday Setup

A Mind Is a Terrible Thing — Sometimes

One day, about 15 years ago, I found myself floating in my office at work. Not in mid-air, but in wall-to-wall water.

My door was locked and sealed to ensure that neither I nor any of the water would get out, and although I continued to tread water as it rapidly rose, I struggled to gasp oxygen from the small air pocket near the ceiling. As I glanced through the small window of my office door desperately looking for one of my co-workers to help me, I only saw two huge buckets of water in the hallway, presumably waiting to be added to the fish tank my office had become in the event the water level somehow dropped.

And then I woke up.

Thankfully, that was just a dream. A nightmare, really. And while that wasn't my first — nor my last — work-related nightmare, it was the most jarring. That particular job was rather stressful. I vividly remember feeling deeply fatigued and hopeless as I left my office every night. I felt as if I was drowning in a sea of work, and that nightmare was merely the mental manifestation of that feeling.

Sadly, I'm not the only one affected by this phenomenon. According to research by the American Institute of Stress, 65% of working adults report that workplace stress has caused difficulties in their lives, including producing work-related nightmares. Who knew Bill Lumbergh and his TPS reports could be scarier than Freddy Krueger and his knives?

As we sleep, our subconscious mind tends to reflect on the things we are unable — or unwilling — to face during the day. Given that many of us spend more time during the day at work than anywhere else, and we're often unable — or unwilling — to express our true emotions in professional settings, it makes sense that work-related dreams are so common. But since workplace stress has been associated with increased rates of heart attack and hypertension, among other health issues, we should focus on neutralizing it instead of normalizing it.

We all dream when we sleep, although we don't always remember those dreams. If you frequently experience — and remember — negative nocturnal energy related to your workplace, perhaps the following suggestions can help keep your mind from playing scary B-movies while you sleep:

1. Pay Attention

   After experiencing a disturbing work-related dream, pay close attention to how you felt upon waking. Were you agitated, frustrated, intimidated, etc.? A little investigation of the emotions your dream elicited might uncover clues to what really caused them and inspire ideas to address them.

2. Unwind Before Bed

   When it's time for bed, if your conscious mind is racing through an incomplete to-do list or reviewing frustrating encounters from the day, it's essentially showing movie previews to your subconscious mind. Consider journaling, doing a worry dump, or meditating before sleep to help your mind to tee up more peaceful feature films.

3. Change or Leave

   If your work environment is constantly disrupting your mental equanimity, perhaps it's not the right one for you. Of course it's easier said than done, but you don't have to remain in a toxic workplace. If you can't control the improvement of your work environment, consider what you can control — like your mindset or your market value — then take action.

Stress — especially at work — is a natural part of adulting, but we don't have to accept it lying down when we're trying to sleep. So when you go to turn down your bed, don't let your mind turn up the anxiety and hijack your subconscious serenity. You have more control over what you think than you might think.

Think about that.