Yes, somehow the reading mind reads, but no one's listening. However, for me it often triggers a new idea.

I think the problem is not the wandering itself, but self-focus of the wandering. Great eureka moments come from wandering, but they are about external, objective questions.

John Stuart Mill (the utilitarianism guy) developed an "anti-self-consciousness theory" and overcame his depression/ennui.

"Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so. The only chance is to treat, not happiness, but some end external to it as the purpose of life. Let your self-consciousness, your scrutiny, your self-interrogation exhaust themselves on that." --- http://theliterarylink.com/anti_selfconsciousness.html

https://books.google.com.au/books?id=nSprYzk7q40C&pg=PA180&l...