Having fun can be productive, too

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Having fun can be productive, too

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Monday brings mixed feelings. Some may be excited to begin a new week, but most of us suffer from Monday blues. In honor of the day, Oddee.com, a blog on oddities, featured various facts about Mondays based on a study in England. In that country, more than 50 percent of employees are late to work on Monday, and most people complain about it being Monday for 12 whole minutes. People between the ages 45 and 54 are most likely to suffer the Monday blues, according to the survey, and at the start of the week, people only manage three and a half hours of productive work.

According to the statistics, most suicides also occur on Monday, including 16 percent of male suicides and 17 percent of female suicides. The risk of heart attack increases by 20 percent on Monday compared to other days of the week.

So if you feel frustrated and gloomy, I suggest you plug in your earphones. Then search “The Gloomy Song that Makes You Gloomier.” Comedian Jeong Hyeong-don and rapper Defconn’s collaboration became an instant hit last week, topping every online chart.

In it, they cynically sing, “You are crying, but she’s smiling,” and “You may think it’s all your fault, and actually, it’s all your fault.”

“Don’t listen to the voice message. You may think that she is calling you, but in fact, it’s just a spam message,” they also sing. The lyrics are just absurd and rude, but you just can’t stop laughing while listening to them. The rap’s beat and the quality of the background music are not bad either.

A few days ago, the duo appeared on a live news program on YTN and made the anchors crack up. “I am sorry to come to a news channel and talk inconsistent nonsense,” Jeong said. He also promised to make another song that is just as inconsistent and nonsensical. In the interview, the pair repeatedly said that they were surprised by the rave response to their creation because it was just an idea of friends who wanted to have some fun.

Daniel Pink, author of the best-selling book “Drive,” claims that incentives like money and popularity do little to promote creativity and, in fact, may restrict it. Humans create the best products when they are motivated because their jobs are interesting, challenging and fun, the author argues. So, the secret to the unexpected success of Hyeong-don and Defconn must be their voluntary decision to prioritize fun over other tasks. Those of us with the Monday blues may also want to ask ourselves what we enjoy most. The answers may lead to a breakthrough in life.

* The author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.

by Lee Na-ree

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