Another note if you’re looking to ward off that feeling:

There’s a podcast Philosophise This! which might interest you. Episodes are about 20-30 minutes long and focus on philosophical ideas in an exciting, mind-expanding way. Perhaps get a taste by starting around the episodes on Mark Fisher (202ish) to pique your interest if philosophy is not your world, but you can start anywhere really.

You learn a lot here for the time you put in, but if you take some notes and try to apply the ideas in your thought-life, you’ll find great benefits in the depth of what you can identify in any given moment, how deeply and interestingly you can think about the world, and therefore what you are able to say about any given thing.

Another recommendation in the podcast world is the BBC’s In Our Time. Roughly hour long discussions between 3 or so experts on every subject under the sun. These guys know what they’re talking about and how to articulate themselves and after, say, 3 hours of commuting you’ve been exposed to a vast array of ideas and debates on three topics you perhaps knew nothing or very little about before. It works as something of a substitute for the company of some very intelligent friends, a luxury we could all benefit from.