Nothing will happen until you let go of your expectation that something is supposed to happen.

It sounds harsh but it is the very thing that you are trying to overcome.

ANTICIPATION.

Anticipation of any kind brings forth a pre-packaged thought or reaction that is the very thing that is keeping your consciousness from peeking underneath the curtain of consciousness.

Any anticipation on your part automatically creates a corresponding response that satisfies that anticipation.

You are trying to get underneath that mechanism.

So you have to suspend all inner anticipations.

Then there is nothing for your intellect to latch on to.

You have to break your inner desire to make sense by using your mind.

The Western world full of "instant living" makes it hard for the Western mind to hold still. That's why we have technology to help with meditation. So I'm with Wade Casaldi. I enjoy meditation too but thank goodness for Binaural Beats and meditative sound tracks on YouTube and the internet! Otherwise I don't have years to "sit and do nothing". HA!

The first source I would direct you towards to help kickstart your progress in meditation comes from Quantum Entrainment teacher Dr. Frank Kinslow. I read both of his books and they are Very good and I recommend them. He is a long time student of meditation and when you read his bio, you can see why he knows what he's talking about. He offers a free Mp3 guided meditation that will take you from right where you are in your body to an expanded state of bliss in about 25 minutes. The first time I did this it Blew My Mind! To find it, go to his site here... http://tinyurl.com/79ocy4y and hover your cursor over the tab at the top marked "Products/Services". At the bottom of the dropdown menu click on "Free Downloads". Once there, make sure you are in a very relaxed and comfortable position and ready to let him guide you for about 25 minutes undisturbed. Then click on the top blue icon for "Pure Awareness" and just follow along. Enjoy!

Then with That experience under your belt, I would direct you towards the wonderful world of Binaural Beats. This is where with headphones, one frequency is played in one ear and a slightly different frequency is played in the other ear. Each ear is connected to the opposite half of the brain and when each half hears something different, it tries to compensate by creating a third beat that is not really there. It only exists in your brain and causes both halves to entrain at a single frequency. Very relaxing and meditative. It takes about 8 to 10 minutes for the entrainment effect to kick in. If you sit very quiet and focus on your breathing, you may find your mind becoming more and more quiet and still. A half hour or more of this is pretty cool! You will find a few good tracks of pure binaural beats here at Delta Box... http://tinyurl.com/7l4tdrl The black box on the right has links for the different beats. Put on your best headphones or ear buds, click on a title and do your own experimentation. I believe most of them start out with one beat and gradually change to take you deeper. A low, comfortable volume is good. Enjoy!

For your next experiment in high tech meditation, I would direct you to "Bliss Coded Sound". This is the one where I actually began to see colors for the first time. Waves of green pulsing right before my eyes! Can't say everyone will see this, but I did and still do! But then I have a half hour version of it. Awesome! Google "Bliss Coded Sound" and you'll find plenty on it. You can get a good sample here on YouTube... http://tinyurl.com/7uef8qm Here is the website... http://tinyurl.com/6u9vcs6 Good stuff. Enjoy!

There's more to be found because sound technology is prevalent on the internet for meditation. Much to be found on YouTube if you just search "meditation" and do your own experimentation. It's very effective. Hope this helps.

Meditation never not works. By definition, it 'works'.

It's too much of an intentional act on the person for it not to work.

It's like asking "how long does it take for me to say 'no' after I've said 'no'?" No time, you said it. Or "how long does it take to start meditating once you've started meditating?"

As soon as you start meditating, it starts working.

As soon as I close my eyes and take my attention off of everything but my breathing, I instantly feel relief.

Especially on intentional deep breathes; the exhale is amazingly relieving. I start feeling peace and that all is well as soon I let go of everything saving my I/'is'ness/breath. I start feeling like God....like how God intended for us to feel: whole, content, satisfied....not a care.

I know that's probably not what you had in mind when you said 'working'/asked the question, but that's what came to my mind at your question, that it works immediately - I feel it working/a noticeable change/relief immediately.

Meditation for me used to be focused on desired outcomes. Manifestations. Sometimes I got what I wanted, sometimes I did not.

For me, now, meditations are to relax and bond with my Source. To feel that Joy when it all becomes clear and Truth-ful. The manifestations are merely by-products. Byproducts to enjoy with my Source. 'Cause God has a good time through me, and you.

You might say that the outcome of a successful meditation is how long you have peace and joy.

It sounds like you want speedy meditation. This is possible now with the technology we have, I have Dane Spotts Ultra Meditation CDs and find them very good. They take you under very deep very quickly, this brings faster results as well.

Here is a link to the CDs Ultra Meditation Dane Spotts.

About answering this question, I have to say mention that there are different types of meditation techniques - and I have seen meditation teachers modifying the existing meditation techniques to suit their philosophy as well. I have learnt two totally opposite type of meditation techniques - the one which is about seeing things as they are - and the other one is something imagining so that we can get what we imagine (seeing things as we want - not as it is). The first one was 10 days course that I did - and it is Vipassana retreat. The second one was 3 days courses - and it was called Manokranti meditation (meditation blended with psychocybernetics). The 10 days course of Vipassana is so that we realize it (you can check it here dhamma.org). And the 3 days course used some sort of meditation to be felt immediately so to prove that it works. Moreover, the answer depends on the concentration - and it is based on individual as well.