If you’ve ever had dreams or even nightmares about your job, you’re not alone. A 2003 survey of more than 1,000 adults by a British education company, learndirect, said that 57 per cent of respondents suffered nightmares about their jobs. Twenty five per cent experienced those nightmares once a week or more.

The learndirect study asked what their work-related dreams are about and here are their responses (in order of frequency):

nArguing with the boss.

nBeing late for an important meeting.

nLusting after a colleague.

nMaking an unexpected presentation.

nGoing to work naked.

nLosing all files in a fatal computer crash.

nGetting fired.

nKilling the boss.

Interpretor of maladies

That we sometimes dream about our jobs isn’t in question. But whether we should take our work-related dreams seriously is a matter of debate. Some experts argue that dreams of any kind are essentially meaningless. But others say our dreams amount to much more.

Dreams can highlight things that we find worrisome and can help us sort out not only our emotional problems, but also the problems we face in our daily life and work. For example, dreaming about having to give an impromptu presentation is symbolic of the real feeling that you’re unprepared for something, Hamilton-Parker says.

Our dreams can also highlight potential solutions to problems and remind us of the unique strengths we can draw upon.

For example, when you have a nightmare, it is your subconscious letting you know that you are preoccupied with an issue more than your conscious mind is letting you believe. The nightmare may be scary, but it shows you how to deal with your problem. Often the solution comes in the form of a picture or situation you have created in the dream. You can see things more clearly in your sleep.

Lessons to be learnt

To understand and benefit from your work-related dreams, you need to learn how to read between the lines.

For example, suppose that you have the relatively common dream about showing up for work or an important meeting naked. This dream dramatises a feeling of vulnerability and exposure in waking life. It is common to people who have accepted a promotion, gone off to a new school or are coming into public view for some reason. The dream suggests the dreamer may be focussing deeply on some area of his life where he’s taken on a new role he hasn’t got used to yet.

Similarly, you might have the common dream about being unprepared for some job-related task or event. This anxiety dream is most common to people who never allow themselves to be unprepared. The people who have it are generally successful, competent professionals who excel at their work and prepare as much as humanly possible.

Does the dream predict your impending public humiliation? Not at all. It’s simply your way of processing anxiety in the face of the potentially unpredictable.

You may or may not buy the idea that your work-related dreams symbolise something deeper. That’s just fine. For every person who sees a larger message in his dreams, there is someone else who sees nothing but “random neuron firings”. If nothing else, your work-related dreams are fascinating to ponder — and perhaps even learn from, if you’re open to trying.