You're right the RCs are the most boring part of prep.
It also makes sense that this would be important to the GMAT score. After b-school, when you get a job, how often do you think you're going to have to read someone's report, analyze it, critique it, figure out what their general ideas are, and then discuss that in some meeting? Very often I presume. RC is a skill that is highly valued. I don't know what % of communications in the work place are in written form, but with the increased use of e-mail, I'm sure it's gone up even more in the last 10 years.
The areas everyone hates to prep for are the areas that can mean the difference between a good score and a great score!
ALSO, WHEN DOING RC, TIME YOURELF! YOUR TIMING IS VITALLY IMPORTANT. I do no more than 3 - 4 minutes on the passage itself and on average 1:15 per question. So a passage of 6 questions would be 4 min + 7.5 = 11.5 minutes. I set my watch and it beeps when I'm done with the 11 minutes allotted time. If I have some left, I mark them wrong.