I love spring for many reasons: warmer weather, celebrating my birthday, blooming flowers, and most of all because it’s time for spring cleaning!

While those two words may not generate the same excitement for you, follow these tips and I promise, you’ll start the season with a bounce in your step, clear space in your mind, and a better organized home.

1. To avoid what I call “the last minute scramble,” group all like items together and designate a place for each item in your home. Whether you’re talking about magic markers, Polly Pockets, or batteries, you’ll save time and money… time by knowing where everything is, and money by not buying things you already have. If batteries are only stored in one place in your home, you’ll never have to look for those AAA’s again.

2. When the jumble of things in your closets and drawers, makes you feel stressed, use the rule of uniformity.  By having uniform hangers, labels, and containers throughout your home, you’ll eliminate visual noise and make closets, pantries, and drawers more peaceful to peruse.

3. If you have piles of paper all over your house, stem the tide by touching each piece of paper only once. Act on it, file it, or discard it.  Why shuffle around that same piece of paper for days, weeks or months when you can make a decision and be done with it?  You should also treat catalogs as trespassers in your home.  Don’t let them in your house.  When you truly need something, you’ll find it online or in a store…with or without the catalog!

4. Spring is one of the natural times to edit your children’s clothes. Before you buy anything new for the summer, remove all of the heavy, winter items that won’t fit your child next year.  Then, revisit anything you saved from last year.  Finally, check your stash of hand me downs if you have them.  Once you’ve edited and purged, make a list and buy your child just what s/he needs…and maybe just a few things that are so cute you can’t resist!

5. Routines work.  If you put your cell phone and keys in the same pocket of your purse each time you use them, you’ll never search for them again. If your child puts completed homework in his/her backpack every night, you won’t be searching for the worksheet while the bus is waiting outside.

6. Organize your summer activities.  Is there a trip you need to book?  Summer camp forms that need to be completed?  Don’t get sold out, make your plans now!