We're at McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.

If you've ever waited, and perhaps are now currently waiting, to hear whether or not

you've tested positive for disease, past medical boards, or got the job you interviewed

for, you know that this period of uncertainty can be filled with tension and anxiety.

My guest today, Kate Sweeney, a professor of psychology, has studied the dynamics of

the human experience and how we can best deal with it. We first discuss why the stress of waiting

for uncertain news deals particularly uncomfortable and what types of people are more likely to worry

while waiting. Kate then shares tactics that can help alleviate some of the worry of waiting,

including leaning into being a pessimist as you approach the moment of truth and finding flow,

even by doing something like playing Tetris. She also explains at what point the social support

for people who are waiting for news tends to wane. So you can better support those around you,

recurrently stuck in the state of mind, burdening limbo. After the show is over,

check out our show notes at a-wim.islash-waiting.

All right, Kate Sweeney, welcome to the show.

Thanks for having me. So your professor of psychology who has spent her career

researching about waiting for uncertain news, how did you end up researching that topic?

Yeah, so there's sort of two parts to the story. In part, the answer is that I found a great

professor to work with in grad school and he was interested in expectations and waiting.

And so I kind of got my start that way, but I really dove into this topic after I finished

graduate school, had gone on the job market and had a pretty difficult waiting experience

trying to find a job. And so when I got to my new job here in California and I thought,

what do I want to research now? That was fresh in my mind. And so the light trauma of the

...