exactly. I've been a consultant for a large company for 7+ years. We had a very large conversion project and I am the subject matter expert on one of the internal systems involved. My effort during the launch was minimal, because I knew the system so well and any data needed, I had already built tools years ago for extracting/manipulating it.
My value (and effort), was seen as high from upper management. I also learned to schedule teams, slack, and email messages accordingly. Even if I get something done very fast, I can easily manipulate the perception around it.
I think perceived effort can be a positive or a negative. When you are starting you want to make it clear you are a hard worker. After that, no one cares and its better to look like you can easily handle what you are doing. No one promotes the person who is working really hard at the level below.
