Hello there, I need some help with answering the following question:

What happens when marginal returns have diminished to zero but we haven't reached our goal yet? How can we boost the marginal returns to (hopefully) reach our goal?

The forum's instructions read the following:

Another important law in economics is the "law of marginal returns or the law of increasing costs". Discuss in terms of your study in this course, how might you know that you are at a point of diminishing returns, or where more study will not benefit you like it did before? Can you identify any of the costs discussed in this lesson in your decision about how much study is enough?

My original reply was the following:

Hello class

I hope you are well this week.

This week's forum topic is another important law in economics, the law of marginal returns. This theory explains that as you add variable resources to fixed resources the additional output will eventually decrease. This, however, does not mean the return will not be profitable it just means adding variable resources won't always increase the return as expected. In other words, if a factory for example has X number of machines and decides to keep hiring extra workers to run them in hopes to increase its production, after a certain capacity point the increase of employees will aid in less additional output because the employees have maximized the utilization of the factory's resources.

I, like most of our classmates, am an adult taking online courses while juggling life. Naturally, time management is crucial for me to complete each course. While I could be a full-time student and earn my degree in half the time, I don't feel I would be the best version of myself in terms of being a student, mom, wife, and person in general if I had double the work. Applying this week's theory to my studies helps me realize that more isn't necessarily better. If I were to increase the number of courses I take at a time, I believe that would decrease my mental health which consequently would negatively impact my life's output, not making it worth my time.

While applying the different costs discussed in this lesson to my decision about studying, a fixed cost would be the tuition price for the courses themselves, which do not change regardless of how well I perform or how high or low my grades are. A variable cost is my mental health, well-being, and time I put into each course. The healthier, less tired, and overwhelmed I am, the better my outcome will be.

Thank you for your time.

Therefore, need help with answering the first question which was:

What happens when marginal returns have diminished to zero but we haven't reached our goal yet? How can we boost the marginal returns to (hopefully) reach our goal?

Thank you in advance.