Slacker Suggestion #2: Mowing the damn lawn.

I don't get it. You know, those people who get all misty-eyed and giddy talking about their yard? Personally, I hate mowing the damn lawn. But I hate paying someone else to do it even more, so here's my strategy to getting in done and tidy with the least amount of time and effort:

1. Get out the weed whacker and trim the perimeter of the lawn and all the edges you can't reach with your mower.
2. Use the weed whacker to trim around sprinkler heads and paving stones.
3. If you are using a bag mower (or any mower that picks up clippings) blow or sweep all edge trimmings onto the lawn you are about to cut. If you aren't using a mower that sucks up the clippings, don't bother ... you'll have to sweep it or blow it later anyway.
4. Get out the mower. Start by making one full pass around the perimeter of the lawn. When finished, reverse direction and make a second pass around the perimeter, overlapping your first pass around the lawn by one-half a mower width.
5. If there are irregular shaped areas on your lawn, cut those now. Always make one pass in one direction, then reverse directions for the next pass overlapping by one-half mower width.
6. You should now have one rectangular (or square) area of uncut lawn. Make vertical passes up and back always overlapping by one-half mower width.

If you have a bag mower, you're done.
If you don't have a bag mower: use a rake to get all the clippings off the lawn onto the sidewalk. Blow or sweep all the clippings into your yard recycling or burn barrel.