There is no better ballast for keeping the mind steady on its keel, and saving it from all risk of crankiness, than business.

A mind with nothing to do turns on itself. Ordinary occupation, the sort with deadlines and other people depending on you, keeps thought steady in a way that reflection alone cannot, because it forces attention outward onto something that will not wait. People who fall apart after leaving work are often missing the ballast rather than the salary.

If your thinking has been circling lately, the answer may be a task rather than more thinking. Take on something this week with a fixed end and a real obligation attached, even a small one, and notice how the circling quiets.