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Recently, work has haunted him outside office hours. He says deadlines now consume both his days and nights, often surfacing in recurring nightmares.

“Sometimes I dream my boss drops a towering pile of paperwork on me. Other times, I dream of receiving a dismissal email while colleagues point at me and laugh.”

He tries to close his eyes, count sheep and follow deep-breathing techniques he found online. But, unable to fall back asleep, he replays unfinished tasks in his mind: “Is the quarterly financial report ready?”, “How is the growth plan progressing?”, “If I don’t submit this tomorrow, I’m finished.”

Feelings of guilt and fear eventually drive him back to his desk at home. He brews a cup of strong black coffee and resumes work, lit only by the glow of his laptop screen.

“Although exhausted, seeing the words move across the screen and the work inch forward makes the anxiety fade temporarily,” he says.

Linh, 32, a communications specialist in HCMC, has experienced similar sleep problems over the past two months. She describes 3 a.m. as “the hour of dread.”

She also often wakes from nightmares and struggles to return to sleep, gets out of bed, opens her laptop, and begins working. Going over slides, figures and emails has become part of her nighttime routine. “I only feel less anxious when my fingers touch the keyboard,” she says.

The habit gradually trapped her in a vicious cycle: The lack of sleep leaves her exhausted during the day, her productivity declines, deadlines slip further behind, and the next night she stays awake again.

Meeting deadlines has become a priority that often comes at the expense of health for Nam, a 28-year-old financial management officer at a Hanoi bank. Photo courtesy of Nam

A 2024 meta analysis published in Sleep Medicine Reviews, a peer-reviewed medical journal on sleep disorders, estimated that some 852 million adults suffer from insomnia worldwide.

Work- stress is a major contributing factor. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report for 2024, which tracks employee well-being and workplace experiences across 140 countries, found that 41% of workers suffer from stress daily.

Millennials and Gen Z workers are among the most affected groups. A 2024 survey by SelectSoftwareReviews found that 45-46% reported burnout caused by excessive workloads.

Vietnam currently does not have nationwide data on insomnia linked to occupational stress. However, many psychiatric and neurological clinics have reported a rise in patients seeking treatment for sleep disorders, particularly following layoffs and economic pressures in the post-Covid period.

Cao Tran Thanh Trung, executive director of the Lumos Psychological Counseling and Therapy Center, says work- stress often continues after employees leave the office. “For many workers, stressful meetings, unmet KPIs, looming deadlines, and messages from clients continue to affect them even at night.

“When they lie down, their bodies want to rest but their minds are still processing unresolved issues from the day. Nightmares begin with an overloaded workday that has not been properly relieved.”

Insomnia caused by deadlines often becomes more severe as the due date draws near as workers continue thinking about unfinished tasks, possible mistakes, and potential criticism while trying to sleep, he says.

“This is a sign that work pressure has exceeded the body’s capacity to recover and should be addressed immediately.”

“Many young workers today do not dare rest or disconnect after working hours because they fear being perceived as less committed, or worry their names could appear on the next layoff list.

“That survival-based fear is the real source of those 3 a.m. nightmares.”

A person struggling to sleep. Photo by Pexels

Insomnia is often viewed as a symptom of conditions such as anxiety or depression. But the World Health Organization recognizes it as an independent medical condition that can coexist with other mental and physical illnesses.

“Sleep disorders are becoming more prevalent and causing serious consequences, but they continue to be overlooked,” Le Khac Bao, director of the Center for Medical Education at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at HCMC and vice chairman of the Vietnam Sleep Medicine Society, says.

Medical specialists advise people who wake up during the night not to force themselves back to sleep or immediately turn to electronic devices. Efforts to force sleep can increase alertness, while blue light exposure suppresses melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep.

If sleep does not return within 15-20 minutes, they recommend leaving the bed, sitting in a softly lit area, reading a physical book or doing light stretching before returning to bed when drowsy.

Nevertheless, these point out, these measures only address the symptoms, and long-term improvement requires better workload management and personal boundaries.

Nguyen Thanh Ha, chief human resources officer at a major technology company in HCMC, claims working at 3 a.m. should not be hailed as a sign of commitment. “Employees need to learn how to establish boundaries and have the courage to communicate upward if workloads exceed their physical limits,” she claims further.

They should reassess priorities and discuss workload adjustments, KPI targets, or deadline extensions with managers rather than work through the night, she says.

After yet another sleepless night, Nam wearily straightens his collar, smooths his messy hair and heads to work.

Linh applies makeup to conceal the bags under her eyes before leaving for the office.

“My biggest wish right now is to get a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep,” Linh says. She believes that will only be possible if she starts closing her laptop before midnight and discusses her workload with her manager.