The weight of winter and the wait for spring are over. (Finally!) It’s the right time to shed the heavy clothes, the piles of files, and the garage clutter. Spring organizing is full of “dropportunites.” These are opportunities to drop excess items that have accumulated over the year. Here are a few examples, along with some tips to benefit from your dropportunities.

1. Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning is always easier if it is preceded by some spring CLEARING. When it’s time to clean, push comes to shove. The clutter that has been piling up all winter has got to go. I recommend starting in the garage. There tends to be a lot of quick wins there. That is, items that you can quickly decide on editing or keeping.  Not every dropportunity is a trash bag solution, so use the garage for exit zones. These include zones for donates, sells, and give-to’s, for friends and family.

2. Moving/Downsizing

Spring is a popular time for people to put their homes on the market. Organizing your home to sell is terrific dropportunity, especially if you are downsizing. As with the spring clearing, the garage is the best place to start.

3. Clothing Rotation

With the warmer weather, it makes less sense to fill up your closets with winter coats. Clean your coats and store them more remotely, to free up space for lighter summer clothes. Free up space in your drawers, in the same way with your sweaters. This is another great dropportunity, to see if you maybe you haven’t worn some of these coats and sweaters all season. If so, mark these items for donation, when the cold weather returns.

4. File Rotation

Last month we talked about the importance of rotating files, after your taxes have been settled. If you missed it, this is a perfect example of how circulation prevents accumulation. Last year’s tax supporting material can be archived. This frees up room in your office file cabinet. As for your archives that are over 7 years old, well, that’s a great dropportunity. Keep your tax returns indefinitely, but if you haven’t been audited, those old tax supporting materials can be shredded.

In the spring, nature sheds many things. Bears shed their caves, chicks shed their eggshells, and snakes shed their skins. So it is natural for us to shed or drop things too, during spring organizing. Are there some spring dropportunities that I missed on my list? Are there some spring dropportunities that you need help with? Let me know. We’d love to help.