Over the past few weeks, Simpleology 5 has been slowly rolling out to our over one million registered users.  Meanwhile, our developers have been busy busy bees.

With the rave reviews we’ve been getting for 5.0 across the net, it might be tempting to rest on our cyber-laurels.  Pah!  Tempting if we were lazy.  Fortunately for us, we are all avid users of our own software and therefore relentless productivity machines as a result.

Here are a few of the new features you’ll notice when you log in today (that weren’t there when we launched 5.0).

Search

Look in the upper right corner and you’ll see an unassuming little magnifying glass. Click on it and you’ll see version 1 of our new Search tool.  It’s pretty fast and pretty fancy, but it’s only going to get better.  It will search across all of your Simpleology data (Targets, Lists, Dream Catcher, everything …)

Options Overlay Redux

The Options Overlay was, and is, unique.  It’s a totally new UI concept that began here. Generation 1 was good, but there were a few issues.  Dragging and dropping was clunky.  Clicking on links was not easy.  It didn’t work well in mobile.  It wasn’t as well organized as it could have been.  The Redux solves all those issues and more.  Try it out.

Dojo 2.0

The belt training has changed everything. We now have a systematic, step by step, way of taking you from “total novice” to “Simpleology Black Belt.”  The first version had a few issues.  The videos weren’t working in mobile.  We weren’t considerate of the hearing impaired and left out Closed Captioning.  It was hard to know how long a training session would last.  The training was excessively repetitious.  There was no way to control the videos.

All of that has been addressed and more.

Now, granted the repetition was by design.  Many folks think “I get it” but then after watching a video a 2nd or 3rd time realize they missed a few key concepts completely. So, there is still going to be a bit of repetition, but not as much.  As a general rule:

- There will be short and long versions of training sessions

- You’ll need to complete the long version a few times (strategically timed) and the short version several times (to ensure you demonstrate the skill)

- You will be able to fast forward through videos, but only after a few forced repetitions

Frankly, we were reluctant to make those changes.  Since in time we’ll allow folks to use their Simpleology belt as a credential, and will allow others to verify that credential, we do have some responsibility to ensure folks have actually demonstrated a skill before advancing.  But at the same time, we want to make the system flexible enough for those who have different learning styles.

It’s a delicate situation, and no matter how we slice it, there will be those who will game the system.  Given that that’s unavoidable in any scenario (already we’ve heard rumblings of people offering “pre-loaded Simpleology Black Belt accounts” generated by cheap labor) we opted for a good balance of flexibility and forced skill demonstration.

…

As always, there is much much more to come, folks.  As always, this happens by combining your requests with our plans, so keep those requests comin’!  We are listening.

We have already begun to send out upgrade invitations and will keep sending them at a pace the system can handle – making improvements as we go.

Meanwhile, here are a few peeks to prepare you for what’s in store.

1.  No New System to Learn.  It’s Built on 4.0, but …

If you are concerned about having to learn a new system, don’t worry.  There are no significant changes to the 4.0 interface.  What we’ve built on top of it will actually make the system even easier.

2.  New Feature – Codename:  Habit Bombs

If you followed the cartoon series leading up to 5.0, you’ll know that at the core of it, Simpleology boils down to three simple steps …

There is much more to this formula than meets the eye, and we’ll be talking about this in more detail in the coming months.  But know that this can be applied to virtually anything.

The first thing you’ll apply it to is, you guessed right, productivity.  And now the best way to master your productivity is to …

3.  Become a Simpleology Black Belt

Ever since we retired our courseware programs, there has always been an education gap at Simpleology.  This was partly by design.  The plan has always been to replace it with something far better and that day has finally arrived.

4.  Start My Day Streak Tracker

Let’s face it – if you’re not doing Start My Day on a regular basis, you’re not getting the full benefit of Simpleology.  A major component of version 5 is stick.  Your habits define who you are.  And for habits to mean anything they need to stick.

Since Start My Day is the single most important foundational habit you can acquire, we’ve added a “streak tracker” to keep track of how often you’re doing Start My Day.  You simply set how many days per week you want to do Start My Day (we recommend 5, but it’s up to you), and we show you a great big red line to represent your streak.  When you break the streak, so breaks the red line.

5.  When in Doubt?  Do Today’s Training!

Really, Simpleology 5 boils down to one button …

Forget the rest of this blog post.

Forget everything else we’ve ever taught you.

Just log in …  Click the “Do Today’s Training” button once a day …  And we’ll take it from there.

It really (finally) is that simple now.

Contest – Do You Have an Inspiring Simpleology Story?  You Could Win Elite FREE for Life

We want to inspire those who haven’t yet started using our software.  Post your story and you could get Simpleology Elite free for life.

Step 1.  Tell Us Your Simpleology Story in the Comments Below

OK, your story doesn’t have to be as dramatic as Martin Bolduc’s (while recovering from cancer surgery he used Simpleology to establish healthy diet and exercise habits – then won the Lean Body Challenge) …  Maybe you are the parent of one of the many kids who have turned their ADD around to become A students using our software.  Maybe you are one of the thousands of entrepreneurs who finally got their business off the ground.  No story is too great or small.  We want to hear them all.

Step 2. That’s It

We’ll take it from there.  Here’s what you can win:

• Most Inspiring Story:  Lifetime Free Access to Simpleology Elite
• 2 Runner-Ups:  1 Year of Simpleology Elite for Free
• 3 Entries Chosen at Random:  1 Year of Simpleology Elite for Free
• 1 Entry Chosen at Random:  Lifetime Free Access to Simpleology Elite

And it may not be apparent yet, but the benefits of Elite membership are about to become a lot greater.  ”Codename Habit Bombs” are the start of something that will become even more significant over time.  Hint:  it blows our old courseware training out of the water.

Meanwhile, let’s hear your story!

It stands to reason, doesn’t it?  Nothing robs us of our full potential as much as lost time.

So, we’re trying a little experiment here.  My team and I just put together a little cartoon book called The 4 Patterns of Chronic Procrastinators.

Click here for the free download.

In Simpleology 4.0 we changed a several-step decision process (you may remember “do it, deliberate, dump, etc”) and turned it into one step:  Decide.

This is great in some respects (if you have a clear plan for your day you can make your decisions quickly on one page).  And not so great in others (if you do need that extra guidance that was available in previous versions, it just wasn’t there).

So, we’ve merged the best of both worlds.  Now you have two “modes” in the decide step:

Guided

This is the old guided decision process you already know and love.

Expert

This is the new Simpleology 4.0 condensed way that utilizes our handy “options overlay.”

Log in and try it out!  If you haven’t done Start My Day in a while, take this as a gentle kick in the behind.  You remember how much more productive you are when you do it, right?

Notes in the Margin:  This is but one of the many improvements and changes we've made since we released Simpleology 4.0.  We're keeping a running tally of the largest of these improvements for your viewing pleasure.  As always, let us know what you think!  We have some pretty significant stuff coming down the pipeline very soon.  Several of these surprises are of the "ginormous" variety.

But it can be better.  Much better.

We’ve been working around the clock to address the inevitable minor things we missed here and there, but we can – and will – do much more.

What We Got Right

• So much faster.

• So much more flexible.

• Interface is (actually) much simpler.

What We Need to Improve

• Better Training and Education

• Greater Simplification and Ease of Use

• Customizable Appearance

• Some Major Surprises