About this quote

Protecting your headspace can mean walking away from chaos instead of trying to fix it. Name the feeling that pulls you back and act: step outside, change the subject, or pause the conversation. Ask yourself who is making you uneasy — is it a frantic team, a heated family dinner, or an online argument? If a place or group keeps draining you, limit your time there and spend energy where you can think clearly.

When to use it

• In a weekly team stand-up where people kept shouting over each other, I stood up and said I don't want to go among mad people, then finished my work in a quiet room.
• At a family reunion when the talk turned into conspiracy after conspiracy, I told myself I don't want to go among mad people and stepped outside for some air.
• When a study group started panicking and rewriting everything at once, I messaged the group that I won't join the chaos and that I don't want to go among mad people — I'll send my section tonight.
• During a heated sports-club locker-room where trash talk became mean, I told the coach I don't want to go among mad people and asked to train with a different group.