Show notes
When was the last time you took a good, long look at your home and thought it was as clean and organized as it could be? In today’s busy, fast-paced world, home organization often tends to fall by the wayside unconsciously. Amanda Sullivan, the author of Organized Enough: The Anti-Perfectionist’s Guide to Getting – and Staying – Organized, discusses how “going with the flow” might just help you get your home – and your life – as organized as possible. A change in the way space looks and feels starts from the way one thinks about that space. Who knows, beneath all the clutter, you might just discover a new way to use that space.
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I am super excited to have a special guest on the show, another fellow professional organizer. Her name is Amanda Sullivan. Welcome to the show, Amanda.
Thank you. I’m happy to be here.
Amanda is coming on from Manhattan and we are both trying not to freeze our butts off because we are in New York, in the tundra. I want to go ahead and welcome you to the show. Thank you so much for being here. I want to let everybody know that Amanda, besides being another organizer since 1999, is the Founder of the Perfect Daughter: Chaos Control. She is also the author of Organized Enough: The Anti-Perfectionist’s Guide to Getting-and Staying-Organized which we’re going to chat about. You live in Manhattan with your husband and your three children. How old are your kids, Amanda?
The oldest one is nineteen. He’s not around so much. I have fourteen-year-old twins.
Are they boys or girls or one of each?
One of each.
Let’s talk about that. I have a five-year-old son and a seventeen-year-old daughter. How are you handling these twins at fourteen?
With all the wisdom I gained from my now nineteen-year-old. It’s a lot about anti-perfectionism and letting go. My work and my personal life have a lot of relation to one another. Breathe, have faith, don’t be too controlling.
I feel like that’s so funny that you said that because I’m starting to learn how to let go of some of my control with my seventeen-year-old but I’m not going to lie, it’s hard.
It’s hard but sometimes they rip off the Band-Aid for you.
I get this question all the time. Which ones are like you that are organized?
I find it fascinating because despite the fact that I’m organized but my husband is not, each kid is totally different and unique. I used to say my older son was pretty organized for a boy. My younger son is neat. He’s not perfectly neat. He’s a fourteen-year-old boy but there’s methodicalness to him. My daughter is super creative and when she was little, she would gather from all over. I’d say to my son, “It’s time to put away the toys.” He’d put all the Legos back in the Lego basket. I’d say it’s time to clean up to my daughter. She would throw herself down and sob. I’d look and I think, it’s much harder for her because on this doll stroller she has a doll, my evening bag, a whisk, her brother’s Lego, she spent the entire game gathering from all over the house. It was much harder to put it away. She’s super creative. They’re all their own people.
It’s good practice for clients, right?
That’s right and vice versa.
You started your business in 1999. I started my business in 2001. We’ve been doing this for a long time and so much has changed. One of the things I was cracking up, I have to tell you this, on the back of your book,
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