Dreams can boost workplace productivity, research shows

Recent studies conducted by the University of Notre Dame indicate that individuals frequently establish associations between their dreams and their conscious lives when they first recall them; these associations have the potential to influence their cognitive processes, emotions, and behavior in the workplace.

An upcoming publication in the Academy of Management Journal titled "A Spillover Model of Dreams and Work Behavior: How Dream Meaning Ascription Promotes Awe and Employee Resilience" is authored by Casher Belinda, an assistant professor of management at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, and Michael Christian, an associate professor of management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"Similar to epiphany, we found that connecting the dots between dreams and reality gives rise to awe -- an emotion that sparks a tendency to think about ourselves and our experiences in the grand scheme of things," said Belinda, who specializes in organizational behavior, specifically emotions, interpersonal communication and close relationships in organizations. "This makes subsequent work stressors seem less daunting, bolstering resilience and productivity throughout the workday."

"People experience awe when they undergo something vast -- something that challenges their understanding or way of thinking about things," Belinda explained. "These experiences can come in different forms, whether physical, such as when witnessing aurora borealis, or conceptual, such as when grasping the implications of a grand theory. Awe often borders on the extremes or upper bounds of other emotions, for example, when people experience profound gratitude or admiration. Dreams are conceptually vast experiences that have a striking capacity to elicit feelings of awe."

A total of three studies were conducted by the group, which collected around 5,000 morning-of reports of dream recall from full-time employees. A morning-of field study, a morning-to-afternoon study on a single day, and a two-week experience sampling study were all issued by the researchers.

These relationships persisted even when the quantity and quality of sleep of the individuals were controlled for. This suggests that the psychological repercussions of recalling and deriving significance from dream experiences may occasionally counterbalance the physiological repercussions of inadequate sleep.

Upon initial examination, dreaming seems to have minimal relevance to work. However, the majority of individuals dream just prior to commencing work on any given day. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that revising our dreams—dreams that appear very real to our sleeping minds—can influence the course of the remainder of the day.

"We arrive at work shortly after interacting with deceased loved ones, narrowly escaping or failing to escape traumatic events and performing acts of immeasurable ability," according to Belinda. "Regardless of our personal beliefs about dreams, these experiences bleed into and affect our waking lives -- including how productive we are at work."

Suppose you have a dream in the morning that was profound or awe-inspiring. Subsequently, your supervisor instructs you to complete an additional ten interviews in the afternoon, which surpasses your initial expectations. You may now believe that it's not that significant in the grand scheme of things, since your awe-inspiring dream has merely put everything into perspective. You have a heightened awareness that you are a minute component of a greater world or that you are interconnected with everything.

"Harnessing the benefits of awe may prove invaluable to organizations," Belinda commented. "And one of our primary goals was to understand how to do so."

First, get a good night's sleep

Belinda elucidates that dreams manifest during every phase of sleep and exert an influence irrespective of one's sleep patterns. Nonetheless, REM sleep is where the most vivid dreams transpire, which are also the most likely to contain meaning and evoke awe in the awakened. Due to the fact that REM sleep occurs late in the sleep cycle, adequate, high-quality sleep will allow you to experience your dreams to their fullest potential.

By monitoring the duration and timing of REM sleep, sleep-tracking devices can assist in the development of more optimal sleep schedules, thereby increasing the probability of experiencing remarkable dreams.

"Also, keep a dream journal to allow meaningful dreams to stick with you," according to Belinda. "Recording dreams gives them repeated opportunities to elicit beneficial emotions and make connections between dreams."

Belinda recommends that both managers and employees encourage the "awe experience" in the workplace. In addition to dreams, nature, art, music, and interaction with senior executives are additional stimuli that have the potential to enhance work productivity.

Journal Reference: Casher D. Belinda, Michael S. Christian. A Spillover Model of Dreams and Work Behavior: How Dream Meaning Ascription Promotes Awe and Employee Resilience. Academy of Management Journal, 2023; 66 (4): 1152 DOI: 10.5465/amj.2021.0377