Simone Weil body of work about attention can serve as a good starting point in this case. It is an answer that complements the usual disciplinary approach to effort, where a different kind of relation with the subject is developed where the interaction with it starts to be less effortful and more natural.
Take drawing for instance, which is something I practice actively. The act of putting effort in drawing is quite reductive as drawing is a broad area. Sure you can will yourself into drawing 100 faces and you will invariably be better at drawing faces, but it'll take you nowhere nearer being a more creative artist. But sometimes approaching drawing laterally, that is reaching to other techniques, subjects and skills (like shading, drawing lines, using pens and such...) might give you a broader set of tools that in turn will help increase the chances you will find something that catches your attention and absorbs you into it.
Sure you can get lost in the generics with lateral thinking and never reach a level of masterery that might be necessary for you to grow as an artist, so that is why attention isn't a replacement for discipline. You need both. But bottomline is that you also need to develop a relation with the subject that will reduce resistances, increase satisfaction and make it more likely that you will get absorbed by the task at hand.