Is there a way to guarantee a night free of dreams (or at least dreams you remember)?

I know exactly what you are looking for and need. You need to keep a dream diary. I enthusiastically recommend you get "Creative Dreaming" by Patricia Garfield, to learn how to do that and to develop the ability to have "lucid dreams."

Once you can become aware that you are dreaming while you are dreaming, you can take over the dream. It is like you are plopped down in the director's chair and can call the shots in every scene. For you that would be a life changer right now. Instead of dreading your dreams you would be looking forward to them.

The book is a small paperback originally written in the mid '70s. It is available at Amazon and worth every penny. It has been reprinted and there is another book she wrote on the subject after that. I haven't read that one. I only read the original in '77.

Dont sleep just after u take dinner.. Watch a funny clip and try to think something productive before you sleep...