Dreams about work

[coveredbridge]

Been FIRE'd for just over two years now. Over that time I have occasionally had dreams about working at my old job. Over the past few weeks however these dreams have become more frequent and seem to consistently focus on frustrating situations at work. Seems curious to me since I don't miss work AT ALL.

Any other FIRE's here have frequent dreams about their old job?

 

[rk911]

been retired 13.5-yrs now and still occasionally dream about work. you're definitely not alone in that.

 

[W2R]

I have dreams about work, but very rarely.

If my work dreams became more frequent like yours have, my first thoughts would be that I might be coming down with something.

 

[upset264]

I had a small business. Two actually. Dreams about business situations are common.

 

[joeea]

Any other FIRE's here have frequent dreams about their old job?

Infrequent dreams about work.

I still have dreams about school occasionally. Mostly the one about the final exam where I realize I don't know the subject at all.

 

[target2019]

A frequent dream is about college, not attending the class, and then having to take a final test. Yep, that'd be me.

I don't recall many dreams. Maybe I'll work on that when I leave work behind entirely.

 

[JoeWras]

I had a few in the first few months, then nothing. Until last week.

I dreamed that a brand new volcano opened up in the parking lot of Megacorp! I kid you not, it was really weird. We all had to evacuate and get the hell out. The geologists were stumped. "First East Coast volcano in millions of years."

I took it as a sign that I am really, really, really done and retired.

 

[gauss]

Been FIRE'd for just over two years now. Over that time I have occasionally had dreams about working at my old job. Over the past few weeks however these dreams have become more frequent and seem to consistently focus on frustrating situations at work. Seems curious to me since I don't miss work AT ALL.

Any other FIRE's here have frequent dreams about their old job?

Do you have an actual upcoming decision, deliverable or difficult task ahead in your personal non-work life?

Just speculating here, but perhaps the subconscious mind, when faced with a challenging situation, will review similar experiences in the mind's stored past.

This could be via dreaming and thus revisiting the old workplace subconsciously.

-gauss
"I'm an engineer, not a neuro-scientist (Jim)"

 

[scrabbler1]

I have had a few dreams about both work and college since I retired 10 years ago. The work ones often include thinking I have to get up and catch the train I hated taking, even only 2 or 3 days a week like I had in the last 7 years I worked. The college ones included, for some weird reason, having to attend a class I not only hated but actually dropped after a few weeks!

 

[donheff]

A lot of commonalities here. Occasional dreams about work. My college dreams usually involve a class I have been skipping and can't even figure out where the room is for the final. Or maybe that isn't a dream but a memory?

 

[street]

Yes, I have them occasionally even after being gone for just about 3 years. I had a high stress job which included making decisions on the spot for people which could be a life and death situations. So, I still have those stressful memories come up in dreams from time to time.

 

[EastWest Gal]

When I was in high school, a friend suggested keeping a dream diary. I could only do it in the summer. The idea is that you recall the dreams more vividly if you start writing them down, in present tense, the minute you wake up, before your awake thought voice intrudes and you forget the dream. That summer, I had the strangest and most vivid dreams ever. It's amazing what a life there is inside our minds. I'll probably try it again.

No work dreams though. Just college dreams. Many times the recurring dream of having to take a final exam in a class in which I did not know I was enrolled. (usually an awful history class, probably because I took an awful history class!)

 

[jazz4cash]

Been FIRE'd for just over two years now. Over that time I have occasionally had dreams about working at my old job. Over the past few weeks however these dreams have become more frequent and seem to consistently focus on frustrating situations at work. Seems curious to me since I don't miss work AT ALL.

Any other FIRE's here have frequent dreams about their old job?

This topic seems to come up at least once per year. I was having dreams about stressful work situations about once per month for the 1st 18 months of of retirement. After 2yrs the frequency reduced to the point that I thought I was all done with this phenomena, but here I am going on 4 yrs of retirement and I had one last week. The dream involved an all-nighter required to complete my monthly report (even as I knew my colleagues were phoning it in). I woke up and realized it was a dream....smiled and went back to sleep.

 

[jfn111]

I retired from mega corp 7 years ago and still occasionally have dreams about it. I wake up thinking WTH, I haven't seen most of these people since I left.

 

[Amethyst]

I can't remember ever dreaming about work. Some of my more challenging job situations prompted "daymares," but no night dreams.

The "unprepared for exam" dreams used to be common, but I put a stop to them a few years ago when, in the midst of the dream angst, I remembered that I already had a master's degree and a job, and didn't need to take exams.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I worked in my sleep almost every night for 32 years, FIRED 3 years and still get the work dreams about once a week.

 

[steelyman]

No work dreams though. Just college dreams. Many times the recurring dream of having to take a final exam in a class in which I did not know I was enrolled. (usually an awful history class, probably because I took an awful history class!)

The college dreams are the ones that got me. It wasn’t that I didn’t know I was enrolled in a course but that I never attended and finals rolled around.

 

[O2Bfree]

I have the "unprepared for a test" dream as well.

I sometimes have dreams about work, but they're about working at my parents' restaurant, which I did starting around age 10. In the dream, Dad has put me on the schedule, and I'm there getting ready to start my shift waiting tables on a Saturday morning. Then I think, "Wait a sec, why am I here? I went to college and have a good job elsewhere, I don't need to work on the weekends!" Apparently I haven't gotten over my annoyance at always having to work on the weekends as a kid.

 

[JoeWras]

The college dreams are the ones that got me. It wasn’t that I didn’t know I was enrolled in a course but that I never attended and finals rolled around.

Why does that happen? Does it still happen with today's kids who have on-line access to their files?

It was a common theme. I think it had to do with our manual nature of class enrollment. Everyone got something screwed up, or at least knew a friend who did. This eventually morphs into the "I need to go to that final for the class I didn't know I was enrolled in."

 

[CaptTom]

Until recently I'd often have dreams of being back in middle or high school, and not remembering where my next class is. Wandering the halls, panic setting in as the bell is about to ring...

Occasionally my dreams will involve w*rk settings or people, but my dreams are pretty fluid, and the places and even environments will morph dramatically. I'm running a boat, then next I'm on the highway with it, then it's a car. Things like that. So it's hard to say any dream is about any one thing.

I still have that "can't find where I'm going and time is running out" dream from time to time, but lately it's less likely to take place in school.

 

[steelyman]

Why does that happen? Does it still happen with today's kids who have on-line access to their files?

Well, in my case, it’s because of my natural slackosity (how do you like that word?). In my dream, I know I am enrolled in the class!

 

[JoeWras]

Well, in my case, it’s because of my natural slackosity (how do you like that word?). In my dream, I know I am enrolled in the class!

Get this. I was not a slacker, but I had that variant too! I'd be like, "Yeah, I blew off the class all semester. So what... Wait, wait! What have I done? The final is tomorrow!"

I had this dream occasionally for 10 years after college. I expected the same for after work. So far, it hasn't happened and I'm grateful for not revisiting that stress constantly.

 

[GrayHare]

I have the occasional dream of w*rking and not getting a paycheck, with Payroll and HR unable to correct it.

I too have the "missed whole semester and today is the final exam" dream. IMO it's expressing a feeling of unpreparedness in current life, but why that yields the same dream for so many people is strange. Maybe the cartoons we all watched as kids had subliminal "the final exam is today" messages hidden within (yes, I'm joking about that).

 

[Mdlerth]

Rated G for General Audiences

What's the point in retiring if all you're gonna dream about is w*rk? I wanna hear about the dreams involving [-]lingerie and trampolines[/-] fun hobbies and naps.

As you can tell, I'm going stir crazy at the sweatshop. This has been an exhausting week. I'm gonna lose it if I don't get some time off soon. Can't wait for Saturday, and eventually, for when every day is Saturday.

 

[mystang52]

Many people have a common dream about being back in college. Mine usually involve me being in a class and having no idea what the lesson is about. Along the same lines, 6+ years after my ER, I still have an occasional dream of 2 flavors - either I'm interviewing for a job (that I have no idea what it entails), or I'm in a job where I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Either way, I'd classify these as nightmares!