Benefits found in ‘sleepworking’

Some might consider it their worst nightmare: completing work-related tasks in their dreams, a phenomenon that’s been dubbed “sleepworking.”

But others are making the most of the hours they are clocking in their sleep. In a recent survey, more than half of the respondents said work had become a focus of their dreams, and nearly 70% of those people said they had solved a problem or had a revelation about their jobs while they were sleeping.

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing to dream about our jobs,” said Robert Stickgold, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “Your brain is calculating what it needs to be paying attention to, and dreams become effective for problem-solving. But if work is all you’re dreaming about, then it’s obsessional, which is a problem.”

The Staples National Small-Business Survey, conducted through an Internet poll of more than 300 people, also found that 72% of respondents make calls while driving and nearly 40% say they get their best ideas behind the wheel.