Get Everything Done

Summary Interpretation:
The DREAMS system is arguably the most “philosophical” and least procedural of all Mark Forster's methods.

It is rooted in trust — in yourself, your intuitions, and your long-term vision.

The idea is: if you only do what you want to do, can you still live a productive, fulfilling life?

It predates the later No-List systems and laid the groundwork for them.

The system does not scale well for externally imposed obligations — it's best suited for autonomous, creative, or life-redesign periods.


How to Make Your Dreams Come True (2002)
This book outlines a highly introspective and countercultural approach to productivity, with DREAMS being an acronym (though he later rarely refers to it that way). It’s a vision-centered method focused on only doing what you want to do — and seeing whether a sustainable, successful life can be built that way.

Here’s where my summary came from:

📝 Key concepts directly from the book include:
No task lists or time planning.
Instead, you maintain a vision of the life you want, and then take action only on what “feels right” or “stands out” in the moment.

Dreams as deep intentions, not goals.
You define what you truly want in your life — career, relationships, creativity — and work from inner alignment rather than external obligations.

No “oughts” or “shoulds.”
You act when you feel naturally drawn to act. Mark tests the hypothesis that a person can be productive without coercion, just by following internal motivation.

Small daily steps.
You take small, intuitive steps daily toward your dreams, emphasizing consistency over pressure or planning.

Rejection of conventional planning.
Mark explicitly rejects the need for project management tools, large-scale plans, or long to-do lists in favor of “working from the inside out.”

💬 Mark’s own words (from the book):
“The test of a dream is not whether it seems practical or achievable, but whether you want it.”

“You do what you want to do — and you don’t do what you don’t want to do.”

“This is not a book about time management. It’s about motivation, inner direction, and courage.”

(ChatGPT then gave an additional six pages of a detailed summary, compared it to Do It Tomorrow/Autofocus, and who it is for, traced the development from Dreams to No-lists to Intuitive Lists, but as I have already posted so much from ChatGPT, I did not include it here. However, I am very impressed that it used Mark Forster's books, and the blog posts here; it gave information that I did not myself provide it.)

I forgot to include ChatGPT's sources:

what was the source of your information for your last answer?


ChatGPT said:
The information in my last answer was based on a combination of:

✅ Primary Sources:
Mark Forster’s books:

How to Make Your Dreams Come True (2002) – the foundational text for the DREAMS method.

Secrets of Productive People (2015) – where No-List systems like the 5/2 method and other frictionless methods are presented.

Do It Tomorrow (2006) – clarifies distinctions from list-based approaches.

Mark Forster’s blog posts:

Especially from 2015–2017 and beyond, where he discusses:

Intuitive List Systems, like NQ-FVP and Autofocus variants

The philosophy of intuition, and how systems should reduce resistance

Serial No-List, credited to forum contributor Seraphim, but hosted and commented on by Forster

Mark Forster’s online forum (Archived discussions):

Threads where Forster answers user questions about switching between systems

His clarifications on how DREAMS, No-List, and Intuitive List relate or differ

Emphasis on "little and often", "standing out", and the idea that systems are not commandments but experiments