Don't even finish the sentence.

I'm Angela Duckworth.

I'm Stephen Dubner.

And you're listening to No Stupid Questions.

Today on the show, what can you do to make boring tasks less tedious?

I quit. I'm not going to pay taxes this year.

Also, are people overreacting about the risk that COVID presents to kids?

Left, right, center, children everywhere. How do they get here? I don't know.

Angela, I realized something about myself recently. It's fairly troubling, and I'd like to run it past you to see if you can fix me,

because you're good at that. No problem. I am often in a rush to get things done, and it's not a good

feeling. It means that whatever I'm doing won't be done as well as it maybe ought to be done.

But what I realized is that I only rush through things that bore me. Like what?

It could be a task like paperwork or bill paying, but it's not just really prima facie boring stuff.

It could be a meeting or even a conversation with a loved one or friend that could bore me. I could be

driving somewhere. So there are potential downsides to rushing in all those circumstances. With

the paperwork, I might make a mistake with a meeting or a conversation. I might irritate people.

If I'm rushing while I'm driving, I could get in a wreck.

And I commonly have people tell me how rushed I seem and that I should just slow the heck down.

But I was thinking about this because when there's something that I'm really engaged with,

I'm not in a rush at all. I luxuriate in the process.

So if I'm writing something that I really care about, zero rush.

So my question, finally, is this.

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