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Decluttering Certification

Being Okay with Better

May 14, 2014 By Dana White | 25 Comments

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Being Okay With Better at ASlobComesClean.com

When I decluttered that back corner of our gameroom recently, I discovered a lot of things in the pile were photos or wallhangings or signs that I knew I wanted to keep but hadn’t found a place for yet.

So I had to wrestle with myself a little/lot.

Do I find a corner somewhere else to stash these things until I have time to decide where/if/how to perfectly display them all?

Do I pile them up and clear everything else and pretend I’m done?

Do I stop Decluttering Day and declare it Decorating Day?

Do I pretend I wasn’t really going to finish this project anyway and walk away? And go eat candy?

I decided to just make it better. I put up a few pictures (that were already in frames) on pre-existing nails throughout the house. Then I leaned the rest up somewhat neatly in the places that were available nearby.

And it was better. Not done, but so much better:

Better than it was before at ASlobComesClean.com

And even though it’s far from perfect and the broken collage is hanging whompy-jawed on the wall, I smile when I walk through this room now.

And smiling is so much better than crying.

Being Okay with Better pin at ASlobComesClean.com

--Nony

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Filed Under: decluttering | 25 Comments

Comments

  1. Carrie says

    May 14, 2014 at 10:32 pm

    Awesome! I have to say I agree that your better IS better than a stack of those pictures tucked away somewhere where you don’t get to see them. Now you are enjoying them, even if they aren’t in the right place for you yet. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!

    Reply
  2. Elizabeth says

    May 15, 2014 at 12:22 pm

    Don’t ruin good in pursuit of perfection. Perfection is an illusion. 🙂

    Reply
    • Jeanne says

      June 9, 2022 at 10:12 am

      This is from 2014 and I am just reading today 8 years later. I love your phrasing on the pursuit of perfection. It is simple, positive and motivating. I wrote in in my monthly planner. Thank you and Dana too!

      Reply
  3. Marion says

    May 15, 2014 at 12:41 pm

    whompy-jawed – I love that word! and you’re right – this is better!

    Reply
    • CA says

      May 15, 2014 at 7:16 pm

      I say it all the time. smile…

      Reply
  4. Andrea says

    May 15, 2014 at 12:41 pm

    I think that better is true reality, because we can always do better, as our needs, wants and experience changes..so do we. Perfection is a centerfold spread in some design magazine that showcases a clean home’s 15 minutes of fame. Except for chocolate and that annoying game that always made me jump as a kid no matter how much I was anticipating it. Being okay with Better is not the same as settling or giving up. 😀

    Reply
  5. Andrea says

    May 15, 2014 at 12:46 pm

    oh and “Whompy Jawed” is my new favorite phrase…

    1.) My dog stared at me all whompy jawed in anticipation of getting one of his stinky treats….

    2.) My cats stares at the dog all whompy jawed in anticipation of his demise

    3.) I stare at my husband all whompy jawed in amazement to the fact he took out the trash without being asked

    4.) I stared whompy jawed at the other car in the roundabout as it actually yielded to a car making it’s way around the circle…

    Reply
  6. Anne says

    May 15, 2014 at 1:22 pm

    Yes! You can always work on it more another day. I love it. I love how you talk through things.

    Reply
  7. Shoeaholicnomore says

    May 15, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    Yes better is still better than it was before 🙂 Great realization Nony!

    Reply
  8. Tera says

    May 15, 2014 at 3:34 pm

    I love your blog!! I found you awhile back and love reading old and new posts! I seriously laugh out loud sometimes. Thanks for being an inspiration.

    Reply
    • Dana White says

      May 15, 2014 at 4:24 pm

      Welcome, Tera!!

      Reply
  9. Laraba says

    May 15, 2014 at 3:45 pm

    I’m really working on the whole idea that even a small improvement is worth celebrating. I have a messy store room in our basement and today I found the energy to organize … some of it. I am 8 months pregnant, so the energy is lacking many a day. There is still an ugly pile of clothing that needs put away, but I know I’m out of energy for the day so I’m rejoicing in the progress I made, and will NOT give way to frustration that much more needs done in that room.

    Reply
  10. Angie says

    May 15, 2014 at 4:40 pm

    I’m new to you and really enjoy you site, posts and podcasts. Thank you for helping!!!

    Reply
  11. Antwanene says

    May 15, 2014 at 5:24 pm

    I agree. It is better and that’s a challenge for us when we want it to be perfect or not at all. Thank you so much, I listened to eight of your podcasts yesterday in a row because I felt it could have been coming from my mouth. So inspirational. Might I add, I listened while I decluttered lol

    Reply
  12. Megan Kaiser says

    May 16, 2014 at 2:14 am

    When it comes to the home, I am also – most definitely a slob. Today I cleaned hubby and my room and when he asked me how my day was going I mentioned I was cleaning the room and he thanked me for doing that! *sigh* My own hubby in the short years we’ve been married has accepted that I never clean! I don’t mean to be negative because I am doing so much better than when we got married in 2010. (sorry for being so long-winded) So it really helped when I started accepting “better” when cleaning. ps – that area looks great!

    Reply
  13. Shelley says

    May 16, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    Love it! I like to say that there is no before and after, only during!

    Reply
  14. Rose Salazar says

    November 4, 2014 at 6:40 pm

    I’ve found recently, like you, that going for better is the best choice when you just don’t know what to do. We have been under an extraordinary amount of of stress with health and financial issues, but thanks to your posts, our home is actually getting better. Even my kids have started to declutter after seeing me get rid of large amounts of “stuff”. I keep working on it in its and bursts, accepting that it is going to take a long time. But cleaning up for company is easier and easier, and more is cleaned than in times past.

    My new “mantra” is if I haven’t used it 6 months (or 3 or 6 years…don’t ask), it shouldn’t take up real estate here! Thanks for helping me learn this lesson!

    Reply
  15. Karine says

    January 12, 2017 at 10:14 am

    I used to want to be all perfect and it would prevent me from doing anything. Now my new pholosophy is “better is good”. With some health issue, I know I’m never gonna be able to make “perfect” in one session, so I accepted the “better” option.

    It changes everything.

    Reply
  16. Mary says

    January 17, 2018 at 10:10 am

    The desk is always my biggest problem as I am a writer and can’t just “dump things after 6 months. That being said, I make too much of a mess and am trying to get things under control.

    Reply
  17. Mo says

    May 15, 2020 at 10:28 am

    Thank you for that simple concept. Just what I need at the moment.

    Reply
  18. Fran says

    May 15, 2020 at 11:00 am

    I’ve recently caught myself saying “it’s good enough”. I like your better is good. Time for a cup of coffee.

    Reply
  19. Michelle says

    May 15, 2020 at 12:55 pm

    Thank you so much my like minded friend! My grown children say my house is “well lived in”. I love them so much! My creative brain and my ADD (did you see that squirrel?), oh where was I going……! I have been receiving your emails for nearly a year now I think and have read one of your books. I gotta say, that each time I go over an area, or through a drawer, etc, it does get easier. To declutter that is, now I am really working on the container concept to help with my inflow problem. Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me feel like a normal creative human!

    Reply
  20. Sally says

    May 15, 2020 at 4:49 pm

    I have been trying to reclaim a room that turned into just a storage room. It was the bedroom of my youngest who left home 20 years ago! I have gone through it so many times in the year since I found a A Slob Comes Clean. Following the rules. And it was so bad that it really never looked better. There was just gradually less stuff in it. I guess I should look at that as improvement.
    I have been trying really hard not to just move things and make a mess in a different place that still needs to be cleaned up. Youngest and her husband came over the other day to help me. They drug everything out into another room. We did paint and scrub the floor. But now I have all that stuff to still go through. There is still trash and still duh clutter. I’m not even close to asking the two questions. But it would be so much worse if I hadn’t been going through things in there over the last year.I have the book on paper, but I think I need to check the audio book out of the library again. It helps to listen to it

    Reply
  21. Pamela J McCall says

    May 15, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    My darling husband said today, “Dana is kind of bossy.” when I said, for the millionth time this year, “Dana says ‘better is better.” He was joking, because during this lock-down time, we have gotten a LOT of areas of our house and outdoors better and they are starting to look pretty wonderful. He has done a lot of work and quotes you while we’re working.
    However, I had to comment on this post because I noticed your Uncle Sam penny bank on your bookcase. Our very young sons bought me the same one about twenty years ago and it sits on a bookcase in our den. Cute!

    Reply
  22. Sharon Milligan says

    June 9, 2022 at 12:55 pm

    Is whompy-jawed the equivalent of catawampus? Lol

    Reply

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A Slob Comes Clean is the completely honest (and never-ending) story of my deslobification process. As I find ways to keep my home under control, I share the truth about cleaning and organization methods that actually work for a real-life slob. And I'm funny.

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