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The question of the day is, “How much effort is needed to meditate effectively?”
 The answer is, “None.” In fact, we can say that meditation requires that you expend no effort.
 In the TV series, The Story of God, Morgan Freeman gets a meditation lesson from Buddhist monk. After a few minutes of meditation, the monk asks Freeman, “Are you trying?” Freeman replies, “Yes.” The monk says, “Don’t try.”
 When you expend effort during meditation, especially when you try hard to get it right, you engage a subtle form of thinking that also includes making judgments about yourself. Just take a minute to contemplate what I’m saying. 
 If you think that succeeding requires effort, you will expend effort, and you will monitor yourself to make sure you’re putting in enough effort. But, if you can let go of any concern about being successful, you won’t feel the need to use effort, and you won’t have to monitor yourself. This second approach is more consistent with our definition of mindfulness: awareness without judgment.
Indian spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says there are three conditions necessary to facilitate meditation:

I want nothing
I do nothing
I am nothing

For the period of meditation, Shankar says you must let go of all that you identify with. Set aside what you are doing and what you are wanting. You can come back to them later. The attitude “I am nothing,” means that you also let go of all your thoughts and judgments about yourself and who you think you are.

Peaceful Moment of the Week: Wild Turkey at Cypress Hills Provincial Park, Alberta

During meditation, you can ask yourself, “Am I ‘doing’ meditation? Am I the ‘doer’ of meditation?” Then see if you can relax and let go of any notion of ‘doing meditation.’ Let the meditation itself be the ‘doer.’ During meditation, all there is just one moment arising after another, nothing else. There is no need for you to do anything.
Of course, the trick here is not to get caught up worrying about whether you’ve stopped trying or doing! That’s just more effort on your part.
Is this starting to sound like a puzzle? Let’s simplify. In meditation, you can just let go. Just sit. Notice what comes up in the external world and what comes up in the internal world of your body and mind. Whatever comes up, accept that it’s come up, then let it go. If you notice that you are reacting to what comes up, maybe with a thought or an emotion, let the reaction go, too. Just keep noticing and letting go.
This practice can be extended into the rest of your life, too. To cease being the ‘doer’ in your life is to stop identifying with the actions you take or the work you do. This doesn’t mean you stop doing things. It means you do something, then let it go and move on to the next thing.
If you practice doing one thing at a time, fully experiencing it as it happens, you stop clinging to what’s happening in your life. You begin to relax and enjoy each moment in its own right instead of dwelling on past experiences or anticipating future experiences.
In writing, this all sounds quite deep, but in practice it’s very simple: Live one moment at a time. 
Now, there’s another aspect of meditation practice where you may feel effort is warranted: Getting yourself to sit down to meditate in the first place. Here, too, I recommend relaxing your effort. While diligence in the practice is necessary, (link to mindful15.com/diligence) it is best facilitated by using habit-building techniques. By definition,