Dreams about getting fired, being late for work, or catastrophic IT meltdowns are more common than you might think. Learning what they mean could help you unlock your full potential in the workplace, writes the The Sunday Times bestselling author and resident dream decoder on ITV’s This Morning, Theresa Cheung

You may well have had that kind of dream too. The ones where you are missing an important deadline or unexpectedly fired or sitting naked in a zoom meeting. Rather than feeling inspired when I wake up from those mundane and/or bizarre work themed dream scenarios, I feel anxious instead. I wonder what on earth my dreaming mind is trying to tell me.

Dreams about work are common. This isn’t surprising. Work and thoughts about work typically dominates a large portion of our waking lives and dreams comment symbolically every night on our waking reality. Work is also a leading cause of stress. Dreaming is believed to be a form of stress release. In the safety of the dream state, you can cathartically release feelings of tension and work through issues playing on your waking mind. You can also role play worst case scenarios to help prepare you ahead of time.

In short, work dreams can give you tremendous insight into not just your attitude to work but into your waking life and any insecurities that may be acting as success and happiness roadblocks.

Dreams about loving your work do happen but they are rare because dreams love to problem solve. You are more likely to wake up with work dreams on your mind if you find it hard to switch off from work and/or suffer from imposter syndrome or feel doubt about your ability to do your job or are thinking about changing your job. Financial concerns, tight deadlines, new colleagues and new work responsibilities as well as performance reviews and even promotions can also trigger those work nightmares.

To help you come to terms with and make the best of any work-related dreams, here are five of the most reported and what they might mean. In each case you will see that your dreaming mind is acting like an inner therapist and trying to help you move forward.

1. Unprepared for a meeting

The dream: You are giving an important presentation either online or in person to your boss, colleagues or clients or you are in the middle of an interview and have absolutely no idea why you are there and what you need to say or do. It is all a big blank and to make things worse you may be inappropriately dressed or even naked.

The interpretation: If you have an important presentation or interview coming up this is your dreaming mind urging you to be as prepared as possible. It is also taking you to the worst-case scenario, so you have been there in the dream state and don’t need to in waking life. And should you find yourself naked you may be craving more honesty or authenticity in your working life. Notice how others in the dream react to your nudity. If they don’t notice you may be worrying far too much about what other people think. Your dreaming mind wants you to impress yourself before impressing others.

 2. Late for work

The dream: You are heading to work and encounter a series of frustrating obstacles and delays which make you later and later. Perhaps your car breaks down or you miss your train or taxi, or your legs literally turn to jelly, or you get caught in quicksand or stuck in mud and can’t put one foot in front of another or move forward.

The interpretation: FOMO or fear of missing out in some way. Perhaps you feel that you need to progress in your career or that you have made the wrong job choice or others are progressing faster than you. Consider what exactly you feel you are missing out on and whether you need to find the courage to speak out or make changes. Or do you simply need to stop comparing yourself to others and reflect deeply on what fulfils you instead?

3. Technology malfunction

The dream: There are many variations of this dream theme with the most common being mobile phone malfunction and the most extreme being stuck in an elevator.

The interpretation: Should your work phone, laptop or PC malfunction in a dream – or an email or text refuse to send or be sent to the wrong person or the Zoom screen freezes – your dreaming mind wants you to pay closer attend to how you communicate with others at work. Think before you hit send and avoid responding until you have had time to reflect. And should you get stuck in an elevator and there is no escape the symbolism could not be clearer. You feel you aren’t progressing and may feel trapped in your current job.

4. You’re Fired

The dream: Your boss is pointing a finger at you and telling you that you are fired! Or perhaps you fail to get the job, promotion or rise you feel you deserve.

The interpretation: You may feel it is time to change your job or go in a different direction but in many cases, this dream typically happens to people who suffer from imposter syndrome, or the feeling they are never quite good enough or there is always more that could have been done. The good news is that in all my years of dream research this kind of imposter syndrome dream is extremely common in high achievers. In their waking lives they won’t allow themselves to fail or be fired but the intuitive wisdom of the dreaming mind knows that failure is important for learning and personal growth. If you won’t allow yourself to ‘fail’ in waking life expect to find yourself failing again and again in your dreams so the learning happens at an unconscious level.

5. Doing the wrong or a different or your own job

The dream: You find yourself back in a job from your past or doing a job that isn’t yours and which you are not qualified for. Or you may also just dream about just doing your job with nothing unusual happening.

Interpretation: it is possible that a helpful lesson you learned from a past job can be applied to your job right now and you aren’t aware of it. It could also suggest that you have unfinished business from your past job that you still need to deal with. And should you find yourself doing a job that isn’t your own, think of the key word or quality that you associate with that job, for example, a dream scientist might be ‘objective,’ or a dream nurse might be ‘nurturing.’ See if applying that quality to a current work situation is beneficial.  

If you dream of doing your current job and nothing out of the ordinary happens – you are sitting at your desk or performing your role or taking to your colleagues and so on – it’s a clear and present sign that you may be thinking way too much about work. Ensure you get some much-needed mental time out each day, perhaps through a little meditation or a walk in nature or listening to music, reading a great book or spending time with loved ones and pets.

Back to night school

School related dreams – you know those dreams when you are back at school and totally unprepared for an exam or can’t remember the combination to your locker or desk and so on – have a very similar interpretation to work related dreams. This is because in many ways school is your first job.

Don’t ever feel disappointed with yourself if you wake up recalling a work or school themed dream. Seize on it as an opportunity to change your current approach to work or waking mindset in some way.  Work matters a great deal but to risk quoting a cliché, ‘Nobody on their death bed ever says I wish I had spent more time at the office.’ Your dreaming mind would wholeheartedly endorse. Every night in both mundane and surreal ways it is trying to remind and reassure you of the profound truth of that profound life hack.

Theresa Cheung www.theresacheung.com is an internationally bestselling spiritual author and public speaker and is regarded as one of the world’s leading dream decoders. She is a regular contributor on TV and radio programmes including ITV: This Morning, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, Capital Radio, Gaia, KTLA, Good Day Chicago, This Morning, Virginia, Coast to Coast, as well as celebrity podcasts such as Working on it with Megan Trainor. Her books, including The Dream Dictionary and The Dream Cure (HarperCollins) are frequent international bestsellers.

Image credits (Zoom): Cottonbro Studio/Pexels
Theresa: Courtesy, Nina Duncan