Maybe he took such efforts as a matter of course.

They had taken too much time and effort to build.

But good services do take more time and effort to set up.

It took a great effort of will to answer her.

It took an effort to make himself move forward once again.

It took an effort even to think about doing anything else.

It took an effort to keep his voice even, but he'd had years of practice.

It took an effort, because he didn't think his mom was fine at all.

But it took a real effort of will to care.

He had to press against this weight in order to even get on his feet, which took a great effort.