If your motivation is low, and you are not accomplishing what you need to do, then more effort would probably improve productivity.

If you aren’t trying very hard, then increasing your effort can make things better. There are definitely times when we can put more effort in and work harder.

But more effort does not always mean better:

• Athletes pushing themselves to their maximum could actually increase their speed by relaxing, rather than pushing even harder and tensing up.
• Someone trying to meditate will not improve their mental state by working harder to relax.
• Concentration can be derailed by more effort to concentrate.

If effort is low, increasing effort has great value. If effort is high, there is a diminishing return in adding more effort. And at a certain point greater effort can be detrimental. Sometimes ‘try harder’ should be rephrased to ‘try smarter’. We don’t always need more effort, we need the wisdom to know that effort alone has limits.

It is interesting that when someone is exceptionally good at a skill, they make that skill look effortless. I think this happens only after they have discovered that the work and effort has already been put into training, and maximum effort is no longer needed.