With Spring sprung and the temperature rising, the year’s first grass-cutting will soon be upon us (if it hasn’t occurred already). How do you do it?
I mow a couple of laps around the perimeter, then do diagonal rows. I tend to alternate the direction of the rows each time I cut the grass.
2 perimter laps for tractor turning space, then rows. Direction of rows varies between sessions:
N-S
NE-SW
E-W
SE-NW
Then I drink heavily.
I’m all over the place. We can’t use a regular mower here though. We use an edger that is pushed instead of carried. The land is steep too. It kicks my butt to do it.
I voted ring around the outside, then sequential rows, but I’ve got a large backyard, so I do that in sections. But generally I take a section, then mow a ring, then sequential rows across until that’s finished, then begin the next section. Repeat until complete.
Spiral, on a lawn tractor.
Generally some variation of a twin spiral due to the position of a gate which lends itself to bisecting the lawn on the first mow.
I have an oddly-shaped perimeter with multiple mid-field obstacles, but I generally try to do one or two laps around the perimeter, then I do sequential rows in one section of the yard to more or less create a workable quadrilateral, then sequential rows to fill in the main field. Sometimes N-S, sometimes E-W, sometimes diagonally in one direction or the other. Then the side yard in sequential rows, then on to the front yard. The front is also oddly-shaped- kind of twice as deep on the West end than it is on the East, with the frontage alongside the sidewalk a swooping curve- so I have to get creative.
All of this was made much easier when I bought a zero-turn mower a couple years ago. What used to be a 2 hour ordeal I can now do in 45 minutes.
I drink heavily first, and don’t remember the pattern. 
I mow in sequential rows. Sometimes, especially on large areas I cut around the perimeter first.
My neighbor told me to mix it up. He’s handy, so I believe him. One week horizontal rows, one week diagonal rows *this *way, one week diagonal rows *that *way.
I chose ‘I don’t mow my own lawn’. God I love having someone do it.
I pay some bastard to mow it for me. Due to sun cancers, in this climate I need to limit exposure. It costs me $60 a throw- it is not cheap and the job is not flash.
But they might whack the Sarracenia!
Besides, beer tastes better when you’ve earned it.
I picked “varies” - I tend to do it in sections as defined (to my mind) by the trees or flower beds in my way. I model my paths in a zamboni-like route so I don’t have to make extremely sharp turns - my riding mower isn’t a zero-radius model. The front lawn has 3 Zones. The back yard is 2 or 3 depending upon my approach. I try to keep from blowing the clippings into the flower or veggie gardens.
The only place that’s simple back-and-forth rows is along the road beside the side yard. And even then, I try to work it so I’m not blowing clippings into the street - not easy since it’s a fairly narrow strip of grass.
Boustrophedon mostly, but sometimes I do the back yard in a spiral (starting with the spot under the cherry tree so I only have to duck under the branches once).
That reminds me, I need to buy a new mower before the weeds get too thick to mow.
I have a hover mower, so there’s no particular reason to use a set pattern. I just wave it about in an abstract fashion until all the grass is cut.
Eh, I just hike up her skirt and have at. No patterns.
I have a small urban lot, it takes all of 10 minutes to do the front and probably 15 to do the back, I never follow the same pattern.
In a hurry - spiral
Otherwise - border with strips
border with -diagonal stripes
I mix it up to keep from forming ruts in the soil (really unnecessary, the soil is compact enough) and for variety. I get my son to mow my backyard because it’s very hilly and I really don’t care how crappy of a job he does.