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No matter what your political affiliation is, it probably isn’t represented by the mainstream media. By trying to please everyone, the media –   like the political establishment it has come to serve – pleases no one. For most Americans, until recently they just had to put up with this situation. Until the invention of political blogs, there was simply no good news analysis that didn’t try to tow a moderate party line. Thanks to politics blogs, however, that has all changed. No matter what ideological position you are coming from, you can find a political blog that is written for you.

I have been reading alternative political blogs for about three years now, and I feel like they have really enhanced my understanding of current events. We live in such a  society that much of the real news of what is going on is censored by the mainstream media. In these free political forums, however, the news can finally be heard by the public that is hungry for it. Unfortunately, political blogs don’t have the budget to do some of the things that the more mainstream news outlets do. They cannot have correspondents all over the world, for example, ready to report any event that happens. What they can do, however, is access a wide range of different media and try to put together a more complete picture than any single publication does. News analysis is a valuable service, and one that is completely neglected by the mainstream media. Thanks to political blogs, we can get beyond the the facile analysis provided by most of the news pundit shows.

Of course, the problem with personal blogs is that they do not have the same standards of proof as some of the media outlets do. While most political blogs are at least as dependable as Fox news, when they are compared to legitimate media outlets, many of them falls short. This is why you have to pick and choose carefully when you are reading blogs. Anyone can write anything they want on a political blog, and it is very hard for someone to call them on it. After all, free speech is a right, and posting on the Internet is simply an extension of that right. People have just as much right to blog political fiction as fact, and rumormongers abound. As always, it is up to you to separate the wheat from the chaff.

It’s the enemy of us all and we are at its mercy. Time, as the saying goes, waits for no one. However, there is help at hand! In fact, a lot of time has been devoted to the benefits of time management and how to achieve it. Today’s stressful lifestyle means a constant juggling of work, family life and social life. It’s easy to take your eye off the ball and let one of those departments suffer. Being organized can’t be left to chance. It really does require some effort and it pays off in the end.

There are numerous books written on the subject and courses and workshops are conducted to teach us the methods and benefits of time management. The Filofax, so popular with go-getters in the 1980s, brought the first stirrings of laying down a format for dividing up time. Some people prefer software applications that follow the same principles. A lot of people have things to do lists but it needs to be more refined than that.

Prioritizing is the key; otherwise there are too many paths to wander down in a forest full of waiting tasks. It’s a good idea to have an end goal in sight; otherwise specific tasks lose their sense of identity. Ask yourself, where would you like to be in five year’s time or ten or fifteen? Also, the benefits of time management will be lost if the set targets are not in sympathy with work colleagues or family members. Are you all singing from the same hymn sheet?

Once a clear goal is formalized, there are targets to decide and placed in order of chronology and importance. It’s the most satisfying feeling in the world to tick off those boxes. Daily, weekly and monthly tasks should be set out in detail. Not everything always goes to plan of course and a bit of flexibility needs to be built in. The benefits of time management will only work if the targets are realistic. Neither underestimate nor overestimate what can be achieved.

Everyone likes to be in control but you will never leave the office on time if you don’t delegate. It will soon become apparent, who can be trusted and who can’t. Another important aspect of the benefits of time management is self discipline. Procrastination won’t get the job done. This is especially significant if you are working from home, an increasing activity these days. It may be a sunny day and the golf course is calling but that monthly report won’t write itself. When the weekly targets have been met, that’s the time to reward yourself with a little rest and recreation. After all, all work and no play makes Jack or Jill a dull boy or girl.