Feel SO MUCH more rested when I have a good dream.

I think it's good to note that either that happens or I wake up too early, go back to sleep, and wake up feeling groggy.

I know what you mean about the circumstantial/conditional rest. I can be in bed 10 hours and wake up exhausted with bags under my eyes. Best advise i can give is occupy your mind as much as you can throughout your day. Routine yourself and add all the hobbies and stuff you love. Meditation is also great for getting you in that good place for sleep that's restful. Take care

One way to control the kind of dreams you're having is by affirmations. I suffered from very bad nightmares and sleep-related hallucinations when I was young, and reduced them considerably by using affirmations. However...

...before trying this you need to understand the nature of affirmations. You're not exerting your willpower. Any "affirmation" session that involves crossed eyes, gritted teeth and clenched fists is doomed to failure or, worse still, will make things worse.

It's a long, slow process of communicating with your own unconscious, which takes a long time and may never produce results. I can't remember now how long it took to even start producing results with me, but I know it was months rather than weeks.

It's a very simple process. You decide on a short sentence which summarises what you want from your night's sleep, then repeat it calmly to yourself several times - preferably aloud - immediately before settling to sleep. Everyone has their own favourite number. I used to say my affirmation seven times, but the number doesn't matter.

As I said, you're not exercising willpower with affirmations. In this respect, the process is akin to meditation (but doesn't take as long to do). You simply get into the habit of doing it on a regular basis, but with no expectation of results. That's how the unconscious works. If you try to bully it into submission, it may well get back at you and make things worse. I discovered many years ago that my unconscious isn't entirely on my side, and I suspect that's true for most of us!

Beezwax's suggestions are also good.

I have been trying to tap into my unconscious anyway to become a better, more positive and productive person so this looks like the right direction to go!