I leave my plants out on my back porch before I head off to work. I start on a very mild day (cloudy, even better), and bring them in when I get home. The porch is covered, gets a touch of morning sun, but really just light. It's sheltered from the worst of the breeze/wind. After a few days of this, if we're predicted to have a mild night, I'll leave them out. Ready to take them back in if things are predicted to get nippy.

My portable greenhouse w. the flap open is ideal for this

I use the winter-sowing method for everything. No hardening off required. See our winter sowing forum here at GW.

Mine go straight from the basement, to the greenhouse/high tunnel on a cloudy day. I leave them there then plant them straight out.

Before I had my tunnels, I would move them out to a shady location, out of the wind and water well. Also I always try to move things on cloudy days or the weekend. Then I can watch them closer.

I also have a day job and I can't be there all the time.

Jay

Another option to help ease them along is to set up a misting system with a water clock/timer thing. It is pretty easy to do and not too expensive, should be well under $100. Lowe's carries everything you would need -- water times are with the hoses in the garden center area, the drip irrigation supplies are in the plumbing area.

On my back porch I have a patio set with one of those umbrellas that isn't 100% opaque, it let's a fair amount of light through, but not all of it.

I put the plants on my patio table (I have about 100 starts, so i have them in 4 bins on the table) and put the umbrella up on a day when it's not 100% sun all day and not extremely windy.

Each tub as the sun rotates ends up getting 1-2 hours of full sun, but the rest of the day is in filtered sun.

One or two seedlings sometimes get's a little scalded doing this, but out of 100 or so plants, that's not too bad.

I leave for work at 7 and get home at 6 or 7, and this works pretty well for me.

Good Luck!

Jeff

My front porch faces east, no overhang. I built sort of a "pup tent" frame out of 1" lumber and covered it with an old white bedsheet, leaving the ends open. The sun is filtered by the sheet, still very bright, and the open ends allow some of the breezes in to toughen up the plants. Tomato and pepper plants went from under lights to in the tent and will stay for about 10 days, then a few days with full morning sun and they are ready to go into the garden.

Steve

Susan's schedule is probably best for you. Leave them in the shade for about nine days (but at least a week) if the weather is predicted to be mild and not windy. (I tend to err on the side of caution for hardening plants off.)

Diffused natural light without a filter has a great many more lumens than any light we give them inside. That shade may seem tame to you, but to seedlings, it's heady stuff that won't burn them!

Then on the weekend when you're home, move them into the early morning and late afternoon sunlight. Finally, expose them to full sunlight all day until you can transplant them. Then you should be able to plant them out without fear of their sun-scalding.

And there's another way. Trudi of Winter-Sowing reputation recommends setting the seedlings outside all day under a laundry basket that has holes in the sides large enough to allow diffused light to come through as well as air circulation.

You could also use one of those to shade your seedlings if you don't have a shady spot. You could leave them all there for a week to nine days, and then remove the basket and let them toast in the sun.

Either way, just make sure you keep them watered and bring them inside if it's going to be windy or too cold for them.

I've planted whole beds of greens in early spring under medium-heavy row covers  just left them there for a couple of weeks (the edges weighted down with rebar or rocks). The covers provided protection from cold, wind, and sun and gave the plants a big head start. I tried to keep their indoor growing conditions cool as well using fans and an open window.

Sometimes you leave the house when it is too cold outside, while you know that later the day will be good to put the seedlings outside. You will have to skip that day.

I use the fact that my brick patio is quite a thermal reservoir, until the trees leaf out, and I put the seedlings outside in the morning with temperatures as low as 40F. I know on top of the bricks is a lot warmer than that, and I also pour warmish water in the trays for extra thermal ballast. I may have skipped 5 or 6 days in 50, with another 10-15 days being too cold altogether. As soon as the next cold front is exhausted (Monday or Tuesday), even the last ones (eggplants, late melons, basil, and peppers) are going to be planted.

Weekends ( or days-off ) to start the process.

Pick a day that is close to indoor conditions ( light or no wind and 60 ~ 80 F )

Put the plants outdoors for an hour or less the first time. Have a beer ( err favorite beverage ) after you move them out, then move them back in.

Gradually increase the time you have them outside and gradually put them out with more wind and/or temperature fluctuations.

When you do this for a couple weekends then start putting them outdoors after you get home from your 9 - 5 and leave them there until dark ( several hours ).

I watch the weather channel for a spell of rainy cloudy days, but with night time lows above 40. This time of year, they come fairly often. I put the plants out under a bench on the first day or two. Then move them out from under the bench the third day. By the time the sun comes out on day four or so, they are hardened off.

clothes basket over the plants laying on the north side of the house under the overhang. cloudy day would help along with this trick.

I also have a movable tent-style greenhouse that is very handy for hardening off. It is great for when weather is good, but you're not past your last frost date - last year I kept my toms in this in gallon pots so they got a great start, but I had the option of bringing them in if temperatures dipped too much.

I just put a small fan on my plants last night to get them to toughen their stems up. It is too cold and windy for hardening off, but as soon as the forecast is warmer, they will be going outside around 7 AM when I leave for work, and will come back in around 8 PM. They are on the back porch, where they get sun until about 1 PM. On the weekends, I'll put them out for a few hours in the afternoon on days that would be too cold to have them out all day. They are directly under flourescent shop lights, and I haven't had an issue with introducing them to sunlight - i.e. I haven't used shade cloth or anything. When my light setup wasn't as good, I'd start them out on the covered porch for a couple days before going into full sun.