I used to be a lifeguard – this scanning method has stuck with me and instantly catches clutter before it becomes overwhelming

The last thing I expected when I trained to be a lifeguard in my teenage years was that it would later help me to keep my home neat and organized. However, the lifeguard scanning method has become key to catching clutter.

The L-scanning method involves scanning an area back and forth quickly and taking in the fine details. In lifeguarding, it ensures you spot anyone in trouble. In my home, it allows me to quickly evaluate items that are in the wrong places.

I might not be saving lives anymore, but this decluttering method certainly saves me from feeling overwhelmed – here’s how.

The lifeguard scanning method for clutter

The L-scanning method is simple, even if it does make you look like a bobble-head. It involves moving your head actively in an L-pattern to cover a large area quickly.

Usually, the scan takes 10 seconds, ensuring you can reach an incident in 20 seconds, but it doesn't have to be this rapid when you're just using it at home.

The rapid scanning method allows me to move my eyes over every part of a room, actively looking out for things that are ‘out of the ordinary’.

While this used to be swimmers showing signs of difficulty in the water, it is now mundane items in the most cluttered areas of a home, such as shoes that have been left out, cables that haven't been put away, or mail that has been left, so I can quickly reduce visual clutter in my entryway.

I regularly use this approach to tidy up at the end of the day as part of my closing-shift routine, to avoid losing control of clutter and maintain a tidy home.

However, it is also a great method to try if you need to get your home guest-ready in under one hour, for example, and need to declutter quickly.

With the scan complete (I usually do two passes over my room to catch everything), I gather everything up together and then walk around my home putting them back where they belong.

If you want to keep things simple, you can pair this scanning method with something like the 1-2-3-4-5 method, moving only five things to instantly make a room look more put together, or the ‘Take Away 10’ method, to move ten items back to their homes.

For items that need to be moved to other rooms, I use my folding laundry basket, similar to the Joseph Joseph 35-Liter Collapsible Laundry Basket from Wayfair, to transport them all in one go. This way, if I am feeling motivated, I can scan other rooms using the lifeguard scanning method and collect items from there to be put away, too.

Why this method works

This systematic visual search pattern ensures that you cover a large area thoroughly, limiting distractions so that your eyes do not dart around and miss anything. This tidying technique I actually use at home might seem a bit over the top – we are not, after all, on a poolside saving lives, but using it often to stay on top of daily mess is a great way to avoid tidying when you feel overwhelmed.

It is also helpful in achieving a true sense of calm at home, adds Elizabeth Lulu Miranda, home organizer and owner of Mercury Organizing. She explains, ‘A tidy home doesn’t just benefit your body – it also promotes peace of mind. The process of organizing and decluttering can reduce stress held in the body, lower anxiety, and clear your thoughts. When your space is orderly, it’s easier to focus, make decisions, and feel calm. This sense of tranquility can inspire self-care and help you maintain a healthier lifestyle, both mentally and physically.’

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Meet the expert

Elizabeth Lulu Miranda

Elizabeth Lulu Miranda is the heart of Mercury Organizing. She is an innovative and resourceful organizer who loves to help people create a better way for themselves. Elizabeth’s passion for organization and efficiency started as a child. Her mother would find her in the kitchen, rearranging the silverware and utensil drawers.

If you like the idea of working systematically across a room to catch and collect clutter, you might also like the Ski-Slope organizing method, which involves moving back and forth across a room collecting items that need to be moved elsewhere in a basket until you reach the door, before putting everything away.

I tried this approach a few years ago and still use it to sort through chaotic rooms and restore order.