You need to pay more attention to the tilth of the soil, than how warm it is to start working it. If you work it too wet, especially if it's clay soil, you will do more harm than good by compacting it and making it lose its aeration. It's a real temptation to start digging around in soil as soon as it's warm, but turning it into hard, airless lumps is very hard to rectify.

step on your earth. Is it shiny? If so,don't dig.

What, precisely, do you mean by "working on it?"

I'm next door in WI and I just got in from several hours of yard work (or rather, several hours of visiting with neighbors and about an hour of yard work). I saw my first crocus bloom today (yay!)... but I'm not ready to work the soil yet. Every fall I chop up all of our leaves with the lawnmower and blanket the garden beds with about a foot of them. I consider heat of these next few weeks crucial to their decomposition (I checked, and the gardens are chock full of active worms). I'll rototill the leaves into the soil in early May and if I had bare root stuff, I'd probably plant it in mid April...

when I say working on it I mean like doing whatever I need to do to get the garden ready for planting, I won't be planting till later.

In early February (I think that's Virginia's equivalent of Minnesota's April), most of my getting ready to plant involves catalogs, sandpaper, potting soil, and dreaming. The catalogs are used for orders and in planning the beds; the sandpaper is used to finish smoothing all the tool handles and shining the blades; and the potting soil is for seed starting. I don't step into the actual gardens unless the soil passes the fist test (grab a fistfull of soil, squeeze, and examine carefully; then it's okay to walk in garden if the wad of soil breaks apart when tapped to indicate its not too damp). I do make sure all the equipment is cleaned and -if motored- tuned up. I stock up on whatever amendments will be needed during the coming season, for me that means CMG for the lawn, and vermiculte for the seeding, but other folks have other lists. Now's the time to obtain all the shredded leaves needed for pathes and mulching. Are your plans completed? I can spend weeks on plans, which is a good thing else I'd be outside smooshing the soil instead of waiting for spring. Oh yeah, February is also when I lay the row covers over the rows that will have peas and beans - the paths between are heavily mulched and walking won't hurt the tilth; the row cover will help warm the soil to a temperature good for planting, sooner. Early February is also pruning time: inspect the woody plants, remove damaged branches and prune those that prefer dormant pruning.

Have you started your seeds? Unless you buy seedlings in May, it's time to start your tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and eggplant (among other things) in seed trays under grow lights.

You're getting pretty consistent feedback here: clean up = yes, now; turn soil = wait...

In my part of Minnesota, the ground is still frozen. Probably for another couple of weeks at least. But it felt good to run around the yard barefoot without snow on the ground! ;)