Shoveling snow always seems to be a pain in the butt (and back, and arms, and legs), but often a little planning can cut your shoveling time in half. Two minutes spent planning out your attack can save twenty minutes of hard labor — letting you get back to watching football in record time.

This timely tip comes from Grant’s Grunts blog. Here are the basics:

1. Ideally, use a nice bent-handle shovel. These save your lower back and let you move much faster through your shoveling.
2. Bisect your driveway by quickly shoveling out a long line that runs up the middle of your driveway.
3. Starting at the bottom of your driveway, stand in the middle line your just made and shovel a line perpendicular to the middle line towards one of the sides. Move one step up your driveway and repeat this step, always working from the center line outward.
4. Once you get to the top of your driveway, start working on the other side of the driveway. The only difference this time is that you’ll be making your way down the driveway. Again, always start each shovel load from the center line.

As Grant points out, you want to focus on not having to bend over to toss large loads of snow off the driveway, as this is slow going and can tweak your back. Bisecting the driveway lets you limit the amount of snow you’re pushing at any time.

Keep in mind that it may be best to slice wider driveways into 3 or 4 sections instead of two.

Do you have any snow shoveling tips? Share them in the comments below!

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