I provide my clients with systems for organizing their office and home spaces and managing work-life balance. A lot of the advice I provide comes from the inspiration and ideas I’ve gotten from successful people I’ve met here in BC and around the world. This issue of Chu On This… kicks off a new segment called Productivity Pointers from Top Business People, where I will share the organizing tips and advice many experts in various fields have used to achieve success.

Our first expert for this Q & A segment is sixty4media co-founder, Rebecca Bollwitt. Rebecca has been named one of the Top Ten Women in Vancouver Technology to Watch and one of Canada’s Top Ten Most Influential Individuals in Social Media.

What is your biggest challenge when it comes to staying organized?
Trying not to let things fall through the cracks such as unread emails, which are time sensitive.

How do you define work-life balance?
It’s hard when you work from home but I make it my goal to disconnect as much as possible on the weekends. This means not opening the laptop or logging onto my computer. Things have changed though since I got an iPhone.

Can you think of a time when being organized helped you seize an opportunity?
Usually it’s a matter of catching online conversations at the right time. If I notice something on Twitter and follow up right away, it can lead to a business connection, a contract, or a larger conversation.

How important are deadlines?
Deadlines help keep me organized, although I do have a tendency to leave things last-minute. The rush and crunch helps me focus.

How do you manage and organize yourself on your computer or online?
I would be nowhere without Gmail or Google Calendar. Gmail sorts my incoming email into folders (labels) right away so I can see exactly where the communications are coming from. I also manage all appointments, meetings and speaking engagements on Google Calendar. I have a calendar for business, personal, and one that I share with my husband for family events.

Do you use paper or a digital organizer (Daytimer vs Blackberry/iPhone) and why?
My iPhone helps me run a business from my home or anywhere else. We’re also a Mac-only home office so we had to go Apple with our communications. Favourite apps include the Google App (of course, see my previous response) as well as Tweetie for Twitter. Since I cannot be blogging all the time, posting images and updates on Twitter helps keep the content flowing.