Get Everything Done

Mark, I woke up this morning and thought about my start to 2009, and just wanted to say a big thank you -- Autofocus has been an incredibly empowering way for me to start the new year. So far, a lot of things are getting done quite "effortlessly" ... and somehow I just seem more "in the flow" without a sense of getting stuck and having to struggle over basically pretty simple "to-do's" Now, they just seem to be getting done! This is SUCH a positive change and it's only been a few days!! THANK YOU !!!

And thanks for setting up this forum, too ... It's really been helping. (Also, thanks to everyone for posting! I am getting more clarity about how to use Autofocus through your own challenges, questions, answers and customizations.)

Wishing you all the best for 2009,
Bev

I just wanted to echo Bev's comments on this forum.

It has been so helpful, and it is fascinating to hear what questions come up, and what views on the system everyone has.

Just looking at this forum has become a recurring entry on my 'AF' list - it's brilliant!

Jason

Allow me to jump in here too. Autofocus has made the first full week of the new year so productive for me. And energizing too! No guilt about what I "should" be doing, just great feelings for actually getting things done! Thank you, Mark!

Mark,

you might remember some critical posts from my side early in this beta phase. I think quite a number of beta testers are no "normal" users of a system but also intellectually interested in time management issues (as I do). Thus please understand that we are asking questions without having (properly) tried the system. BUT

AF is the best time management system I have worked with

it is
- simple to understand and to implement
- effective
- efficient
- combining both parts of the brain/representing a more holistic view

I actually have implemented AF on day one (5th of January) and have achieved much more than with the systems I used before (last system: mixture of DIT, GTD and some others) while feeling much more relaxed (e.g I don't have the frustration of not completing a daily task list anymore).

There are definitely some details where I have still questions/worries about and there is (as I think at least) some room for individual solutions, but overall

I HAVE TO THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT CONCEPT

Like everyone else I'd also like to say Thank you.

With this system I have achieved so much and I'm still on holiday!

One of the biggest changes have been my feelings.
I feel so relaxed and in control with AF.. and hopeful for a great future.

My art is further ahead and organised than it ever has been, I'm relatively on top of the housework.. and I'm still talking to the family haha

Yesterday I felt, at the end of the day, I hadn't achieved much and what I did was time wasting or not overly important.
But then I went thru the list looking at what I had crossed off and found
- I'd crossed off over 20 items
- some items I'd procrastinted about since Dec
- Most of the items I'd crossed off were towards my major goals AND
- I had put the next steps to take on the end of the list
AND
- it had all seemed to "just get done" I don't really remember thinking "I have to do this"
- I hadn't felt stressed or pressure or overwhelmed

The last 2 I realised were the feelings I had when I achieved alot, so to get to the end of the day relaxed means I must've been wasting my day!!!

But I hadn't wasted time and I was still relaxed
SO
again a huge thanks Mark for all the thoughts and efforts you put into systems that help us with our lives.

I would certainly echo all of the above. Even on the days when I had very little time to look at my lists I didn't feel stressed, and found when I did get back to my lists on the following days that I had done several of the items anyway in what would previoulsy have been wasted time. My mind feels so much more focused. DIT was (is!) the best system I had used pre AF but, as I had days with perhaps only an hour free, and the same volume of work as on a 7-8 hour day, I was frequently stressed and panicking.

Fantastic system Mark - and a massive thank you!!

After a week in using the AF system, I feel obliged to add "say thank you to Mark" to my action list.
AF helped me to overcome the usually stressful return to work after the long Christmas holiday. I feel some echo from the second of Mark's books, "How to make your dreams come true", where he talks about the differences among push and pull mode. It seems to me that now my tasks are pulling me towards them, so I don't need to push to act on them.

I'm Italian, so I translated the instructions in order to better follow them. Mark, if you want I would be glad to send them to you, in case you add to the website the "Translations" section you were mentioning in your newsletter.

Romano (from Rome)

Added to Autofocus list: Pray for Mark Forster, that God may grant him long life, peace, health, salvation, and every blessing in this life and the next!! Thanks Mark for all the help you've provided to so many thousands of people!

I echo Christian Gaertner. Yes, AF makes me focused and relaxed. I'm working a lot, without anxiety or hurry. It was so good it was introduced on the very first week of the year, I am feeling confident instead of looking for so many things that had accumulated in past years.

I am surprised with its effect on web surfing, a problem not solved yet in past ten years. I was unable to do things I needed on the web, getting too easily distract. It is quite frustrating after spending hours on the computer and have turned it off, to remember things I should have done and forgot. AF helps me do the right things while on line. This is such a progress for me (not to mention that I tried many other ways to control time on line and never succeeded).

I also experienced some systems before and AF is the one that works best for me.

Hello from India.

I have been using autofocus since last three days, and have nothing but praises for it. Thank you Mark! In just three days my life has been enriched- I find myself tackling tasks that I had been procrastinating on since months and months. More than that, I am working (in baby steps) on various creative projects which is really satisfying.

An example: I am passionate about wildlife and subscribe to some magazines about that. Usually I just scan them hurriedly and then set them aside, planning to read them later on...when I have free time. And there they remain. Last evening I picked up the latest issue and read three articles. Small thing, but deeply satisfying. And that realisation made me want to express my gratitude.

Last three days were holidays for me though, enblling me to tackle backlog of tasks in the peace of my home. Work starts today. I have a separate list for workplace; it would be interesting to see how AF helps me there. Meanwhile, thanks!

AF works for me as it was simultaneously both inbox and review. It is great to do a review everyday or even more times a day. AF gives me peace of mind, "mind like water" and I "feel in contro"l, things I 've never got from GTD. I learnt a lot with GTD, but most of the time I used on the system itself and feeling frustrated. AF is perfect for me, but of course, I am no perfect and my nature and temperament are the same as before AF. ;-)