I didn't use to shave - also seeing it as a chore - but as I aged, I found that the upper edge of my beard was creeping up my cheeks to the point where I was beginning to see the upper edge at the bottom of my vision, which I found weird and disconcerting, so ended up trimming the top edge. That looked weird, and so I progressed and eventually settled on a goatee kinda thing, which I have been told by several people suits me - so I stick with it.

I use a wet shave: soapy water, then a shave gel and then shave with the grain. I have never timed it but it takes around the same length of time overall as cleaning my teeth, I suppose. It is reasonably smooth - but not mega-smooth by any means. I do it each morning.