Bisnis Limbah, Sungguhkah Menjanjikan?

http://green.kompasiana.com/polusi/2012/03/19/bisnis-limbah-sungguhkah-menjanjikan-443420.html

Maria G Soemitro



tukang sampah, salah satu ujung tombak pengumpul sampah anorganik

“Pilah dan Olah Sampah Jadi Rupiah” slogan yang diusung pemerintah kota Pekalongan dalam menjaga dan memelihara kebersihan kota. Tapi apakah sesederhana itu?

Peserta program lingkungan hidup di kota Bandung bahkan mendapat iming-iming akan mendapat bantuan perbankan apabila mampu menyukseskan program Bank Sampah. 

Padahal apabila mau dikaji lebih dalam bukankah tujuan dilaksanakannya program lingkungan hidup adalah untuk meminimalisir sampah? Jangan-jangan sebagai nasabah Bank Sampah warga malah berusaha meningkatkan saldonya dengan perilaku boros sampah.

Karena program Bank Sampah dan Pengelolaan Sampah Anorganik “berbeda jurusan” dengan pelestari lingkungan hidup. Ranahnya berbeda, kerangka berpikir berbeda, departemen yang mengurus berbeda, sehingga hasil akhirnyapun berbeda pula. Perbedaan tersebut dapat diperjelas dengan membagi kedua “jurusan” tersebut:

1. Pelaku program Bank Sampah dan Pengelola Sampah Anorganik di ranah Usaha Mikro Kecil Menengah (UMKM)

Sayangnya, tidak ada istilah “Bank Sampah” dan “Daur ulang Sampah Anorganik” dalam UMKM. Yang ada adalah bisnis rongsokan dan bisnis pengolah sampah plastik/kaleng/kertas menjadi bahan baku baru berkualitas rendah.

Berapa omzet seorang pengepul rongsokan? Bisa mencapai ratusan juta rupiah pertahun. Untuk memperlancar usaha, biasanya seorang pengepul membawahi puluhan tukang rongsok yang diberi fasilitas tinggal di satu atau dua rumah kontrakan. Para tukang rongsok yang harus berkeliling di area pemukiman ini umumnya urban ke kota karena menunggu musim panen/musim tanam.

Bagaimana dengan bisnis daurulang sampah anorganik seperti kaleng, plastik dan kardus? Sama juga. Keuntungannya sangat menjanjikan. Bahkan seorang pelaku bisnis pengolah limbah plastik di Bandung Selatan mampu memiliki armada truk untuk mengangkut rongsokan dari para pengepul rongsokan. Banyaknya pelaku bisnis rongsokan menciptakan hubungan simbiosis mutualisme. Sama-sama untung, pengepul rongsokan tidak harus mengeluarkan biaya transportasi untuk mengangkut rongsokan. Pelaku bisnis daurulang sekaligus pemilik trukpun bisa tenang karena adanya kepastian pasokan bahan baku.

Pebisnis kelas kakap yang mampu membeli beberapa buah truk memang tidak sekedar mempunyai pabrik pengolah sampah plastik menjadi biji plastik. Tetapi umumnya dia juga memasok bahan baku limbah kaleng, besi dan kertas ke pabrik daurulang di kota lain. Mungkin akhir-akhir ini anda membeli produk elektronik? Untuk merk tertentu bahan pengganjal produk elektronik bukan lagi styrofoam tetapi hasil daurulang kardus bekas.

Apakah pelaku rongsokan dan produsen pengolah sampah anorganik tersebut masuk ranah lingkungan hidup? Jelas tidak. Cara pandang mereka sangat berbeda dengan pegiat lingkungan hidup. Gaya hidup merekapun bertolak belakang dengan gaya hidup organis yang  wajib dilakoni praktisi lingkungan hidup. Karena itu, jangan heran apabila disekitar kantor/pabrik rongsokan banyak terdapat sampah. Beragam sampah: sampah organik dan sampah anorganik.

Contoh sederhana adalah tukang sampah yang mengangkut sampah dari rumah ke rumah. Jangan berharap area rumah si tukang sampah senantiasa bersih dari sampah. Karena dia mengumpulkan sampah demi mendapatkan upah sedangkan rumah pribadinya penuh sampah dia tidak akan peduli.

Bank Sampah di Surabaya (dok. Sandi Bayu Perwira)

Seorang pelaku bisnis rongsokan harus bertujuan menghasilkan profit sebanyak mungkin. Dia tidak mau bercapek-ria mencatat detail jenis sampah anorganik seperti yang dilakukan pengelola bank sampah. Bahkan apabila perlu dia “ngaborong”beragam sampah yang ditawarkan padanya. Praktis dan tidak membuang waktu. Prinsip mereka: “Waktu adalah uang”. Disekelilingnya berserakan sampah dia tidak akan peduli karena sampah yang tersisa tersebut  euweuh duitna (tidak bernilai materi).

Demikian pula pelaku bisnis daur ulang sampah plastik.  Dia harus menargetkan pasokan bahan baku agar usaha pengolahan plastik bekas menjadi biji plastik berjalan lancar. Dia bahkan tidak mau repot mencatat tiap jenis plastik karena sekali pegang atau lihat, dia akan tahu jenis plastik apakah itu. PETE?  HDPE, PP atau LDPE?  Yang harus dilakukannya adalah efisiensi waktu dan keefektifan gerak. Berapa jumlah tenaga kerja yang diperlukan dan mampu dibiayai, semua harus dihitung dengan seksama. Para tenaga kerja itulah yang nantinya memilih berdasarkan jenis dan warna plastik, memasukkan mesin pencacah, mesin pelebur plastik dan mesin pembuat biji plastik. Contoh sampah plastik diambil penulis karena selama ini dituding menjadi pembuat masalah dibanding sampah anorganik lainnya.

pemulung, ujung tombak UKM sampah anorganik

2. Pelaku program Bank Sampah dan Pengelola Sampah Anorganik di ranah Lingkungan Hidup

Berbeda dengan UMKM, pelaku pelestari  lingkungan hidup mempunyai tujuan aksi nonmateri. Mereka bertujuan menjadikan lingkungan hidupnya nyaman dengan mengelola sampah. Salah satu bentuk kegiatan mereka adalah “Bank Sampah” dan”Kerajinan Daurulang sampah”. Membuang waktu menjadi  tidak masalah karena lingkungan rumahnya menjadi bersih, asri dan pikabetaheun (nyaman).Target nonmateri ini membuat pengelola bank sampah tidak dapat menargetkan pemasukan  sesuai cash-flow agar kegiatan berjalan lancar.

Bank sampah juga membutuhkan “tokoh” dalam operasionalnya. Sang tokohlah yang memobilisir nasabah bank sampah agar jangan lupa menyetor sampah anorganik. Sungguh berbeda dengan bank konvensional. Bank konvensionalmengedepankan produk jasa dan pelayanannya. Nasabah akan berduyun-duyun datang apabila produk jasa dan pelayanan suatu bank konvensional  menyenangkan . 

Sedangkan bank sampah akan terancam keberlangsungan operasionalnya apabila si tokoh mengundurkan diri atau meninggal dunia. 

Karena itu apabila pihak perbankan tertarik pada kegiatan bank sampah, maka akan lebih bijak memberikan charity (sumbangan) daripada pinjaman. Khusus di kota besar, niatan untuk membentuk bank sampah sebaiknya dikesampingkan dulu. 

Targetkan membuat lingkaran hijau komunitas dimana hasilnya langsung terasa. Terlebih tukang rongsokan rajin keluar masuk kompleks perumahan, panggil saja untuk membereskan sampah anorganik yang bertumpuk. (Bank Sampah, Paradigma Salah Kaprah)

Hasil yang lebih mengecewakan dialami pelaku kerajinan bekas kemasan plastik. 

Pengumpulan bahan baku yang sulit, biaya, tenaga  serta waktu yang dihabiskan ternyata tidak diimbangi dengan inkam memadai.  Barang sulit dijual padahal proses pembuatannya sama rumitnya dengan proses pengumpulan bahan baku. Diperlukan  banyak pengorbanan yang tidak masuk kalkulasi pelaku kerajinan. Sehingga tidak berlebihan apabila penulis mengategorikan pekerjaan ini sebagai aksi sosial.

Sayangnya penikmat hasil kerja sosial mereka adalah perusahaan pembuat produk yang menggunakan kemasan untuk menyimpan dan membawa produk dari satu tempat ke tempat lainnya. Kemasan plastik memang didisain bewarna-warni “ngejreng” dengan tujuan memikat pembeli. Bukan untuk menggerakkan minat pembuat produk daurulang kemasan agar mengumpulkan dan memprosesnya hingga menjadi produk baru seperti tas, tikar dan sajadah.

Sayangnya lagi telah terjadi pembiaran pelanggaran pasal 15 Undang-Undang nomor 18 tahun 2008, yaitu : “Produsen wajib mengelola kemasan dan/atau barang yang yang diproduksinya yang tidak dapat atau sulit terurai oleh proses alam”.

Limbah kemasan plastik jelas memenuhi kriteria pasal 15. Kelalaian produsen memenuhi kewajibannya mengakibatkan masalah lanjutan. Yaitu sampah di buang ke tanah, sungai atau dibakar. Sampah plastik yang dibuang begitu saja akan sulit terurai oleh alam sedangkan pembakaran  sampah menimbulkan asap beracun .

Sampah plastik bekas kemasan dan keresek (kantung plastik) sebetulnya bisa didaurulang menjadi biji plastik. Tapi harganya sangat murah karena biji plastik yang dihasilkan adalah kualitas terendah. Bahan baku keresek hitam. Untuk memenuhi kebutuhan bahan baku umumnya pabrik biji plastik menerima pasokan Tempat Pembuangan sampah Sementara (TPS) dan Tempat Pembuangan sampah Akhir (TPA).

Harga pasar yang sangat rendah pulalah yang menyebabkan pengepul enggan menampung sampah kemasan plastik dan keresek. Sehingga jangan heran melihat  tukang rongsok dan pemulung tidak menggubris keberadaan sampah kemasan dan keresek. Sebanyak apapun.

Selain kemasan plastik biasa, beberapa produsen menggunakan kemasan plastik berlapis aluminium untuk menjaga kualitas produknya contohnya kopi, cemilan dan deterjen. Tetapi bagai boomerang, limbah kemasan plastik berlapis aluminium ini sulit terurai oleh alam. 

Produsen daur ulang plastik angkat tangan. Karena biaya pengolahannya besar sekali. Tidak sebanding dengan hasil penjualan biji plastik

Satu-satunya yang masih mempedulikan adalah pengrajin daur ulang. Mereka mengumpulkan dari rumah tangga dan warung, bukan dari tempat sampah. Sehingga hasil kerja mereka penulis kategorikan sebagai kerajinan daur ulang bekas kemasan bukan kerajinan sampah.

Untuk memenuhi kebutuhan jumlah dan warna bahan baku, pengrajin daurulang juga harus merogoh kocek. Mereka bersedia membayar cangkang kopi (limbah kemasan kopi) Rp 25/lembar. Mereka membutuhkan minimal seratus lebihcangkang kopi untuk membuat dompet kecil.  Tapi apa lacur? Sulit sekali memasarkan produk-produk kerajinan plastik ini.

hasil kerajinan bekas kemasan plastik

Harapan yang tersisa adalah  bantuan pemerintah untuk menjembatani permasalahan. Agar pihak-pihak terkait bisa mencari solusi terbaik. Pemerintah dapat dan harus membantu dalam hal regulasi. Produsen dengan program CSRnya bisa membantu memasarkan, memberi pengarahan disain produk dan  pemberian modal bergulir. Karena para pengrajin daur ulang sampah plastik umumnya berasal dari golongan menengah kebawah.

Mereka telah mengambil alih kewajiban produsen tetapi hasil kerja kerasnya diabaikan. Bahkan mungkin produsen berfikir telah memberi lapangan kerja bagi para pengrajin. Tanpa mengetahui fakta bahwa hasil kerajinan tidak selalu terjual di pameran yang hanya dilaksanakan beberapa bulan sekali. Beberapa dari mereka nekad berjualan di pasar kaget setiap hari Minggu. Berbaur dengan pedagang kaki lima (PKL).

Mereka hanya berfikir soal mendapatkan rupiah dengan cara halal. Mereka hanya berpikir soal harapan. Walau hasil kerjanya tidak mencukupi kebutuhan hidup, mereka selalu bersemangat. Itulah sebagian kecil potret wajah anak bangsa.

**Maria Hardayanto**

Tiesto at the Fountain of Bellagio

Jim O'Neill on MINT countries

O’Neill, Man Who Coined ‘BRICs,’ Still Likes BRICs, But Likes MINTs, Too

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/12/09/oneill-man-who-coined-brics-still-likes-brics-but-likes-mints-too/

By Luciana Magalhaes and Matthew Cowley

Dec 9, 2013

Jim O’Neill, former Goldman Sachs chief economist -

 

Bloomberg News

SÃO PAULO–The creator of the BRIC acronym says he hasn’t always been an optimist, but right now his enthusiasm for the global economy is running sky-high.

“During the 1990s I was bearish about the world because I was very worried about the U.S. current account,” Jim O’Neill said in a telephone interview on Friday.

That changed in the 2000s, when he first coined the BRIC acronym, and this decade is also looking bright, he says. “In some respects it is all about the U.S. and China swapping places, and it’s happening,” says Mr. O’Neill.

Manufacturing in the U.S. is starting to recover, while China is exporting less and driving up domestic demand. That makes for a healthier balance in the global economy.

“Compared to most people I speak to I seem to be still a lot more optimistic but it is a fallacy that I’ve always been optimistic.”

The former chief economist at Goldman Sachs — who left the bank earlier this year — is now taking a look beyond the BRICs to another set of countries likely to shine. That was for a series for BBC Radio about four emerging economies that could rise into the ranks of the top 10 global economies by 2050.

The anointed ones are Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey, or MINT: their uniting themes are favorable demographics and attractive economic prospects.

Yet they will never live up to the BRICs, he says, which will always remain much larger. In two years China alone creates more new wealth than the entire MINT gross domestic product combined. The largest economies in the MINTs are Mexico and Turkey, neither of which are expected to achieve China-like rates of growth, so the average is skewed. Nigeria, the smallest country in the group, is the one with most potential.

Curiously, however, the MINTs may have more in common with each other than the BRICs. While Brazil, Russia, India and China have gone to great ends to come up with a coordinated plan of action at global forums such as the G-20, there are always gaping differences. At last week’s World Trade Organization talks in Bali, India objected to a global trade pact supported by the other three nations.

“Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey all share very multi-dimensional trade patterns,” said Mr. O’Neill.  People he spoke to in the MINT countries believe there is more natural affinity among MINTs than BRICs, he said.

The economist projects the BRICs will grow an average for 6.6% in the decade from 2011 to 2020, but that’s almost entirely down to China. He’s jokes that if he had to modify the BRICs at all, it would become the “C” —  the only country that’s surpassed his expectations.

He’s very optimistic about the Chinese government’s efforts to move toward better quality growth at the expense of quantity. As a result, the pace of growth in China’s economy has come down somewhat, prompting concerns about the impact on the global economy. Mr. O’Neill says that China growing at a pace of around 7.5% is equivalent to the U.S. growing at 4% per year.

“People still don’t fully appreciate that,” Mr. O’Neill said.

There have been plenty of negative headlines on Brazil, Russia and India in the last few years. But that’s also been overblown, according to the banker. “If those countries show any vague acceleration, it is probably going to surprise people,” he said.

In the case of Brazil, the economist said he won’t be surprised if Brazil grows between 2.5% and 4.5% or 5%, next year. Quite a jump from 2012, when Brazil’s gross domestic product increased a revised 1.5%, still well below initial government projections of 4.5%. Economists in Brazil see growth of around 2.1% next year, according to the central bank’s latest weekly survey.

Mr. O’Neill says Brazil needs to adopt stronger supply side reforms and expects a pick-up in private investment in 2014 to drive a faster pace of growth.

As for China, the economist predicts GDP will probably grow between 7.5 to 8% in 2014.

The Economist Who Invented The BRICs Just Invented A Whole New Group Of Countries: The MINTs

http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-oneill-presents-the-mint-economies-2013-11?IR=T&

MATTHEW BOESLER

• NOV. 13, 2013
• 

Former Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill is the one who popularized the term "BRICs" in reference to the group of emerging-market economies made up of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

This year, however, the fortunes of those economies have taken a turn for the worse for various reasons, and many investors are abandoning the idea that they will be able to continue the rapid growth that has characterized the past several years.

Much investor attention has therefore shifted from emerging markets to "frontier markets," a classification made up of economies smaller than those of the BRICs.

In a new column for Bloomberg View, O'Neill presents a new potential investment destination: the "MINT" economies (emphasis added):

I spent last week in Indonesia, working on a series for BBC Radio about four of the world’s most populous non-BRIC emerging economies. The BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- are already closely watched. The group I’m studying for this project -- let’s call them the MINT economies -- deserve no less attention. Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey all have very favorable demographics for at least the next 20 years, and their economic prospects are interesting.

Policy makers and thinkers in the MINT countries have often asked me why I left them out of that first classification. Indonesians made the point with particular force. Over the years I’ve become accustomed to being told that the BRIC countries should have been the BRIICs all along, or maybe even the BIICs. Wasn’t Indonesia’s economic potential more compelling than Russia’s? Despite the size of its relatively young population (a tremendous asset), I thought it unlikely that Indonesia would do enough on the economic-policy front to quickly realize that potential.

"Now, meeting a diverse group of Indonesians — from the leading candidates for the 2014 presidential elections to shoppers in Jakarta’s busy malls — I found a healthy preoccupation with the country’s economic prospects," writes O'Neill. "Could Indonesia do what’s needed to lift the country’s growth rate to 7 percent or more, they were asking, or would it have to settle for 'just' 5 percent?"

Fellow Bloomberg View columnist Matthew C. Klein points out on Twitter that Fidelity actually coined the term "MINT" in 2011:

Read O'Neill's whole column at Bloomberg View, and expect to hear a lot more about the "MINTs" going forward.

Mint condition: countries tipped as the next economic powerhouses

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/09/mint-condition-countries-tipped-economic-powerhouses

Forget the Brics and the Civets, Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey are the new kids on the bloc according to economists

Larry Elliott

9 January 2014

A Nigerian man at a Porsche dealership in Lagos. Nigeria is aiming to become Africa's economic hub. Photograph: Reuters

First it was the Brics. For a while the Civets were in vogue. Now the Mints are the ones to watch. Confused? Well, once you know your acronyms it all becomes clear.

The Brics are Brazil, Russia, India and China – four emerging economies lumped together in 2001 by Jim O'Neill, then at Goldman Sachs, to show that western investors needed to take notice of what was happening in the post-cold war global economy.

Robert Ward, of the Economist Intelligence Unit, linked Colombia,Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt and Turkey but the Civets never really took off. Now O'Neill is championing the Mints, a name first coined by the fund managers Fidelity, for what he thinks will be the second generation of emerging market pace-setters: Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria andTurkey.

The Mints share some common features. They all have big and growing populations with plentiful supplies of young workers. That should help them grow fast when ageing and shrinking populations will lead inexorably to slower growth rates in many developed countries (and China) over the coming decades.

And they are nicely placed geographically to take advantage of large markets nearby, with Indonesia close to China, Turkey on the edge of the European Union and Mexico on America's doorstep.

Nigeria's geographical advantages are less immediately obvious, although it does have the potential to become the hub of Africa's economy at a time when the continent is enjoying a sustained period of strong expansion.

Strong growth in Asia has pushed up demand for the fuel and raw materials needed for industrialisation and three of the Mints – Mexico, Indonesia and Nigeria – are leading commodity producers. Of the four, only Nigeria is not already a member of the G20 group of developed and developing countries.

Even so, financial markets are wary about treating what is actually a disparate group of countries as a bloc. If the Brics are now a bit old hat, it is in part because their reputations are a little tarnished.

Western investors who piled into Bric stock markets expecting to make a packet have had their fingers burned and in recent years would have done better keeping their money at home. Only China has really lived up to the growth hype and is now the world's second biggest economy.

But even then stock market performance has been weak and there are now concerns that attempts by Beijing to move to an economic model less dependent on credit will lead to a hard landing in 2014.

At one point India looked likely to rival China as the emerging market powerhouse but it had a wretched 2013, suffering from high inflation, a rising current account deficit and a run on the rupee.

Russia is seen as over-dependent on its oil and gas sector and unfriendly towards foreign investors; Brazil, like many other emerging economies, proved vulnerable to hot money flows.

Tanweer Akram, economist at ING Investment Management, notes that investors pulled back from several emerging markets last year and are likely to be discriminating in the future, reducing exposure to "countries that are vulnerable on the basis of current account deficit, inflation above target and muted growth".

Turkey and Indonesia are both countries where the bullish investor mood of a couple of years ago has been replaced by a more cautious approach. Of the two, Turkey is the more immediate concern, with the International Monetary Fund calling late last year for interest rates to be raised by 2.5 percentage points to tackle 8% inflation.

Nigeria is seen as more attractive in part because it has shown strong growth despite its long-term structural problems: power shortages, corruption and a poor education system.

The markets like the market-friendly reforms in Mexico and see it, rather than Brazil, as Latin America's best bet. Even so, Mexico's fortunes are closely linked to those of its powerful neighbour across the Rio Grande.

In one sense, the very notion of Brics and Mints is helpful. It illustrates the way in which the economic balance of power has shifted from the developed to the developing world over the past 20 years and will continue to do so over the next 20.

In Nigeria's case, it illustrates the possibility that the next "tiger" economies could well be in Africa.

But it is well to remember that the countries are only grouped together because they make a neat acronym. They are all different; the suggestion that they are not is Colombia, Oman, Burundi, Botswana, Laos, Egypt, Romania, Sudan.

7 Ciri-ciri Mereka yang Mempunyai Kecerdasan Emosional yang Tinggi

http://bagusberlian.com/7-ciri-ciri-mereka-yang-mempunyai-kecerdasan-emosional-yang-tinggi/

Bagus Berlian

Akhir-akhir ini, kita semakin sadar bahwa kecerdasan emosional ini sangat penting bagi tiap individu dalam menunjang kesuksesan dan kebahagiaan mereka, baik di tempat kerja, pergaulan hingga kehidupan keluarga. Memiliki kecerdasan emosional yang tinggi akan membantu anda dalam bersikap praktis ketika di hadapkan pada suatu permasalahan. Untuk itu, kali ini saya akan sharingkan apa saja ciri-ciri mereka yang mempunyai kecerdasan emosional yang tinggi. Harapannya, hal ini akan menjadi referensi kita bersama untuk kehidupan kita yang lebih bermanfaat dan bahagia kedepannya.

1. Fokus pada Hal-hal yang Positif

Mereka yang memiliki kecerdasan emosional tinggi sadar bahwa percuma saja berlarut-larut dengan masalah. Fokus pada masalah tidak akan pernah membawa solusi, sebaliknya bersikap positif dalam menyikapi masalah akan membawa anda pada solusi yang tepat untuk menyelesaikan permasalahan anda.

2. Mereka yang Berpikiran Positif akan Berkumpul dengan Mereka yang Berpikir Positif Pula

Orang-orang dengan kecerdasan emosional tinggi tidak akan menghabiskan banyak waktu dengan berkumpul bersama mereka yang suka mengeluh dan mengumpat. Mendengarkan keluh kesah dari mereka yang suka berpikir negatif hanya akan membawa menghabiskan energi kita pada hal yang percuma. Sebaliknya, berkumpul dengan orang yang memiliki pikiran positif dan penuh semangat akan membuat kita tertular juga. Dan inilah yang pada akhirnya akan meningkatkan kecerdasan emosional anda juga.

3. Orang dengan Kecerdasan Emosional Tinggi selalu Assertive

Assertive adalah sebuah sikap tegas dalam mengemukakan suatu pendapat, tanpa harus melukai perasaan lawan bicaranya. Orang yang assertive sangat tahu betul kapan mereka harus bicara, kapan mereka harus mengemukakan suatu pendapat dan bagaimana cara yang tepat untuk memberikan sebuah solusi tanpa harus menggurui. Dan yang pasti mereka yang memiliki sikap assertive selalu berpikir terlebih dahulu sebelum bicara.

4. Mereka adalah Visioner yang siap Melupakan Kegagalan di Masa Lalu

Orang-orang dengan kecerdasan emosional yang tinggi akan sibuk memikirkan apa yang akan dilakukannya di masa depan dan segera melupakan kegagalan di masa lalu. Baginya kegagalan di masa lalu adalah sebuah pelajaran yang penting diambil untuk mengambil langkah yang lebih mantab di masa yang akan datang.

5. Mereka Tahu Cara Membuat Hidup Lebih Bahagia dan Bermakna

Dimanapun mereka berada, apakah itu di tempat kerja, di rumah ataupun berkumpul dengan teman-teman, orang dengan kecerdasan emosional yang tinggi akan membawa kebahagiaan bagi sesamanya. Terkadang arti bahagia bagi mereka tidak harus sebuah kekayaan. Bersyukur akan nikmat yang didapat hari ini dan membantu orang lain yang membutuhkan pertolongannya akan membuat mereka merasa bahagia dan bermakna.

6. Mereka Tahu Bagaimana Mengeluarkan Energi Mereka secara Bijak

Mereka yang dikaruniai kecerdasan emosional tinggi, tahu bagaimana memanfaatkan energi mereka dengan bijak. Mereka tidak akan menghabiskan waktu untuk hal-hal yang percuma saja. Mereka akan fokus pada tindakan-tindakan yang akan membawa manfaat bagi sesamanya.

7. Terus Belajar dan Berkembang

Mereka yang memiliki kecerdasan emosional tinggi sadar, bahwa apa yang ia ketahui saat ini masih belumlah apa-apa. Baginya, belajar bukanlah 12 tahun wajib belajar dan 4 tahun kuliah. Wajib belajar adalah seumur hidup. Mereka selalu terbuka akan hal-hal baru dan berani mencoba berbagai macam tantangan yang akan membuat mereka berkembang. Kritik dan saran dari orang lain akan dijadikan sebagai referensi baru dalam mengambil langkah dan keputusan di masa yang akan datang.

“It isn’t stress that makes us fall – it;s how we respond to stressful events.” – Wayde Goodall

The 25 Most Productive Ways to Spend Time on the Internet

http://time.com/3160140/web-productivity-tips/
by Manas Joshi forQuora


Getty Images

It’s easy to forget that we have access to a virtually limitless resource of information, i.e. the Internet. For a lot of us, this is even true at our fingertips, thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and an ever-increasing push for online greatness by tech engineers all over the world.

As a result, there are countless websites out there that are geared to make you smarter and more brilliant for either a low or no cost. Here are just 25 killer websites that may just make you more clever than ever before.

1. Duolingo
This isn’t the first time I’ve recommended this language-teaching website (and app), and it certainly won’t be the last. Duolingo is a free version of Rosetta-Stone that delivers the same results: teaching you another language. Regular use of the site can have you speaking and writing Spanish, English, German, French, Portuguese and Italian in a matter of months depending on the diligence you put into it. Hopefully, even more languages will become available soon.

2. Kahn Academy
Have you ever wanted to pick up a subject you’re not well-versed in, but you didn’t have the money to invest in a college course? Khan Academy aims to provide education at the collegiate level for anyone who wants it. They provide resources for learning pretty much every subject out there, including math, science, history and more. As you learn, the platform will even assess your progress and help you gauge what you’ve learned.

3. Justin Guitar
Guitar is one of the few instruments out there that’s actually pretty easy to learn if you’re a little older, making it one of the most accessible instruments. Still, learning how to play still takes some direction, at least for most people, so a guy named Justin decided he was going to help out. His website provides hundreds of free guitar lessons that range in different styles, depending on how you want to play. His schedule for learning is pretty easy to follow, and the site is a great stepping stone for people wanting to pick the instrument up.

4. Cooking for Engineers
Founded by Michael Chu, Cooking for Engineers goes further than just providing recipes. The site is a blog that is geared toward making your food taste good. Additionally, his analytical take on ingredients and cooking recipes is interesting and will likely change the way you approach cuisine.

5. The Dating Specialist
Or Nick the Dating Specialist is a website that wants to help guys be better dates. The site is full of advice on how to approach social situations and flirt successfully with different types of people. Nick even offers personal coaching at your request, so he can help your specific situation or hurdle to successful dating.

6. Nerd Fitness
When we think of exercising and gym techniques, we typically think of bodybuilders and jocks from high school. Nerd Fitness aims to provide resources for getting in shape from a nerd’s point of view. All of the guides, blogs and fitness tips on this site have a geek flavor that is intended to make anyone who feels uncomfortable at the gym feel right at home here.

7. MIT Open Courseware
As much as I would love an education at MIT, that isn’t really in the cards. Thankfully, the educators at the Massachusetts Institue of Technology decided to give out information for tons of courses online through Open Courseware. Hundreds of millions of people have benefitted from the information that they can learn from these courses, starting a trend for other sites to offer free courses as well.

8. Investopedia
I don’t like to admit it, but my lack of a business degree tends to make me feel easily intimidated when a conversation starts taking a turn for the financial. To solve this, Investopedia was born to provide a news blog that makes it easy to digest and really understand the financial markets. There are tons of resources like tutorials and videos that will help you keep up with the ever-changing world of money, and the news stories will keep you coming back for more.

9. Quora
And this had to come

10. Information is beautiful
I love reading, but sometimes a visual demonstration just makes information come alive. Hence, Information is Beautiful is a platform that uses gorgeous visuals to impart data. For example, if you want to find out how much money individual organizations have lost from data breaches, you can view an action visual that shows bubbles that are labeled and sized accordingly, giving you an in-depth, but easy to digest overview of the data.

11. Spreeder
According to Spreeder, a lot of us have trouble reading quickly because we can only read as fast as our “inner voice” can. Spreeder’s solution is to teach you to read without an inner voice, boosting reading speed and comprehension immensely. The best part? It’s totally free.

12. Project Gutenberg
Imagine a library with tons of free books that you can keep for the rest of your life. Actually, you don’t have to imagine that because Project Gutenberg gives you the ability to download thousands of free e-books, and it’s completely legal.

13. Codeacademy
If you haven’t noticed by now, the Internet has pretty much taken over everything, which means the skill of coding and developing websites is in higher demand than ever, and that’s not likely to change. With Codeacademy, you can use free tutorials that teach you the basics of coding with interactive and handy tools for helping you become an expert.

14. GeographyIQ
Imagine if Google Earth and Wikipedia decided to make it official and have a child. That would be GeographyIQ. Using the world map, you can select any country and access virtually every facet of useful information there is about that country, including history, currency, population and more.

15. Anki
It’s no secret that the key to memorizing information is mastering recall. With flashcards, you can recall things faster, making Anki an ideal resource for using flashcards online. Unlike other sites that use flashcards, Anki allows you embed more than just text. You can use video, audio and images to help you start studying faster and smarter.

16. Lumosity
Using games to learn is something I’ve treasured since Kindergarten, making Lumosity a trusted resource for me and countless others. Using a daily schedule of games, Lumosity is literally designed to make you more clever. As you progress, the software figures out what your strengths and weaknesses (such as memory or math skills) and assigns you games accordingly. The best part is that the games are actually addicting and fun to look forward to!

17. CliffsNotes
Ideal for high school and college students, Cliffsnotes provides valuable resources like study guides and test prep for standard books and subjects you’ll have to read anyway. The site also provides resources for math and science, giving you the chance to finally master the dark arts of homework.

18. TED
For years, people have been benefitting from TED talks that provide free insights from the world’s smartest people. TED provides the value and learning growth of a seminar, but without the exorbitant costs and travel expenses, by providing visitors with tons of free video lectures. The app is also great for catching up on the latest talks, and you can even download some on iTunes.

19. Pinfruit
Need to memorize a lengthy number? Pinfruit analyzes the number and provides all of the options you could want as a mnemonic device. That’s all there is to it, since (unfortunately) they only provide this for numbers and not words.

20. Mindtools
There are countless blogs that you can enjoy for being interesting and mildly useful, but how many of them actually help you with your career? Mindtools is a blog that teaches you what they call “practical career skills” that you can apply at your job. This is a great daily read for entry-level workers who want to make a great impression, and the variety of topics and advice provided make this is a fantastic bookmark for anyone wanting to excel.

21. Learn Street
Want to take your coding skills to the next level? Learn Street helps teach you how to use advanced coding scripts such as JavaScript, Python and Ruby without making your head explode. It even provides a service for helping you teach advanced code to others.

22. HowStuffWorks
There are things we want to know about, and then there are things we didn’t know we wanted to know about. HowStuffWorks addresses the latter by providing information on a variety of topics and eye-opening facts that will broaden your horizons.

23. OneLook
Finding a great dictionary is not a difficult task in a world full of search engines, but it can be tricky to define more complicated words and phrases that most dictionaries (besides UrbanDictionary) don’t attempt to define. With OneLook, you can find multiple definitions from numerous dictionaries in one place, even if you’re looking up a phrase that is obscure or too specific for normal dictionaries to help you out with.

24. The World Factbook
Did you know that the CIA has information on pretty much everything in the world? Okay, but did you know that they make a ton of this information open to the public? The World Factbook is your godsend for research, allowing you to cite facts and details that pertain to a seemingly endless amount of information from reputable sources.

25. Couchsurfing
Don’t let the name fool you, as Couchsurfing is far from a website that will make you lazy. Couchsurfing lets you connect with travelers all over the world and is the ultimate resource for experiencing other cultures. Put simply, you can use the social network to meet locals in a new community you are visiting. You can also open up your home to fellow couchsurfers, giving you the chance to make new experiences and memories with fascinating people from all over the globe.