If I were a poet I'd write an Ode to the Dream Catcher. Alas, I'm but a prosaic geek/MMA-fighter/entrepreneur/futurist. Here's my thusly prosaic praise of the Dream Catcher, and a note about the uber-ninja new way to use it our nerd-herd has plotted, schemed, and coded for you.

Why You Should Love the Dream Catcher, Too

When I'm in the middle of "making things happen," sometimes annoyances surface that pull me off track. I get a new idea ... i remember something I need to take care of ... I get an urgent message about something that needs my attention ...

Rather than allow life's inevitable variation to derail my progress, I just drop it all in the Dream Catcher. I then get right back to business, secure in the knowledge that I'll get to it next time I do Start My Day.

That's how Simpleology works.

Big deal. It's only a big deal if you actually want to make significant things happen in your life. (Everyone else can go back to sleep. Everything is under control.)

SMS and Email: The New Way to Drop Items Into Your Dream Catcher
(Simpleology Pro or Elite account required)

In days of yore (yesterday), one would have to log in to their Simpleology account via the web to drop items into the Dream Catcher.

With the new SMS/Email to Dream Catcher feature you can drop items into the Dream Catcher from pretty much anywhere. That is, anywhere you have access to email or SMS (SMS = "short message service" AKA "text messaging").

And now that almost everyone has a smart phone, or at least a phone with text messaging, you could do this from anywhere.

Here's how ...

1. Log In

2. Go to "My Account"

3. Click on the New "Extras" Tab

4. Click On the "Add New" Link Next to "SMS/Email to Dream Catcher"

You can add as many email addresses and phone numbers as you like. Our robots will then walk you through the process of verifying each one.

Get creative with it. Think: now that many phones will even allow voice-to-text SMS messages, instead of taking eccentric faux notes-to-self ...

... you can take notes-to-self for real - and actually do something with them.

P.S. Remember, this is a new feature. We've tested the dickens out of it, but there's no such thing as "bug-free software" - especially when we're dealing with the chaos of thousands of cell networks and email providers. Let us know if you have any trouble and we'll fix it fast. As always.

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Technical explanation: the human brain can only store so many bits of data in conscious memory at any moment. This appears to be a hard-wired design limit. If you attempt to load too much into conscious memory at once, your brain behaves the way your computer does when you have too many windows open: it grinds to a halt. If you deliberately manage what you're consciously focusing on in the moment, you can optimize brain function.

Non-technical explanation: too much stuff on your mind makes you lazy and dysfunctional. Move it to the Mental Lock Box - take it off your mind - be less lazy, less dysfunctional, and thus get more done.

Wait a minute ... What is this Mental Lock Box thing, anyway?

Here's a quick refresher.

As you go through your day, you jot thoughts, ideas, and to-do's down in the Dream Catcher. This gets them temporarily out of your mind so you can get back to the important work of the moment, rather than veer off on a tangent.

When you do Start My Day the next day, you'll be prompted to make fast decisions about these items. One of the things you can do with them is mark them as "deliberate." That means you're not sure what to do about it yet. Maybe you'll do it. Maybe you won't. In the meantime, you are smart enough not to let this get in the way of getting done what needs to get done.

The items you mark as "deliberate" are moved to the Mental Lock Box for safe keeping. They're always there for you to review any time.

So far so good ...

But what if you don't want to forget about them forever? Wouldn't it be great if you could be reminded about particular items at a date of your choosing? That's what Simpleology user "Crystal" thought.

We agreed.

This feature is now available and it's mostly as she requested, with one difference: rather than setting the reminder date during Start My Day, you'll set them inside the Mental Lock Box itself.

Why?

We felt that asking you to set a reminder date during the Start My Day process interrupted the flow too much. The spirit of Start My Day is to make quick decisions, get stuff off your mind, and get down to what's important: real work.

Now, what if you forget to go into your MLB and set these dates? Stay tuned ... (lots more on the way)

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Now you can brag about kicking all of your Daily Targets in the tail on your favorite social networking sites. After you complete your Daily Targets for the day you'll be prompted to do so.

Good incentive to knock off that whole list, right?

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"Mark, you guys need to integrate Facebook into Simpleology! It will go all viral and like everyone will spread it around and it will be like - amazing! Dude! Think about it!" (punctuated with bug-eyed hyperventilating)

OK. So, let's think about it then ...

Sure, we could put Facebook and Twitter buttons everywhere and it would make it easier for everyone to buzz about us. It would also make it a heckuva lot harder to get things done throughout the day. Simpleology is, after all, a personal productivity platform.

So, we could junk up the platform with all sorts of crass marketing noise ...

But we're not gonna.

At the same time, social media can be a great way to leverage the problem-solving power of the crowd.

("Buzzwords! Dude!")

Case in point: a couple weeks ago I was looking to do some simple voice-overs in our new office space. No matter what I did I kept getting a terrible hiss on my recordings. So, I posted the question to Facebook and within a day I had over 30 responses.

(You can check out the post here, if you like. Lots of great audio wisdom there.)

With the advice I got on Facebook, I was able to put together a really effective recording solution, mostly with gear I already owned. I also learned a few things about audio recording I had never considered.

The point?

This inspired us to put a "Get Help from Your Friends" button in the Major Focus tabs.

This button will automatically bring up a prompt that allows you to post a question on Facebook or Twitter asking for advice - without taking you to the full Facebook or Twitter sites, so you can get right back to work after you post. (As opposed to falling into a facebook crack-binge for a few hours.)

Examples:

• Maybe your current Short Term Major Focus is to shed a bit of body fat. I bet you have a few friends who have been-there and done-that. Wouldn't it be great to not re-invent the wheel?
• Maybe your current Long Term Major Focus is to buy a house. I am betting you know some folks who have done that before, too. Maybe they know a few things that might save you a few thousand bucks, or so.

You get the idea ... This taps into the true power of social media (it's not just for "I Can Has" pictures after, all ... not that there's anything wrong with a good "I Can Has" picture). Hey, if social media facilitated the Arab Spring, maybe it can help you figure out a better way to organize your garage.

(Urge to make the obvious Arab Spring --> spring cleaning pun .... checked.)

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Inconvenient ... Easy to get wrong ... Not simple.

Now you can easily drop those items into Google Calendar, Outlook, or any iCalendar (.ICS file) compliant calendar.

Next time you click the Start My Day button to have your most productive day ever this new feature will be waiting for you. It should be self-explanatory. If not, click on the tool-tip. Still confused? Talk to our Customer Care Team. Don't be shy. They are there for you.

How else can we simplify your complicated life? Cast your vote.

P.S. If you're looking for some more, well ... "radical" ways to boost your productivity, we're holding a free (non-sales-pitchy) live webcast with those radical dudes at "Radical Undoing" about "Radical Productivity." These guys will go deep into some of the more esoteric approaches to personal productivity (think: "deep breathing" "body tension" etc.). Their approach isn't for everyone, but if you're an experimenter who likes to explore the boundaries, tune in ... Since Harvard Med School's Herbert Benson M.D. published "The Relaxation Response," mainstream medical acceptance of these types of approaches has grown considerably.

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Long Version:

We're inspired by (not only the general awesomeness of the Songified version of the "I feel happy of myself" video ...

... but also) the wonderful simplicity of their message at the end:

"Tell us what to songify."

So, hey ... tell us what to Simpleol-ify.

We're listening.

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Subject: (Invitation) Upgrade to Simpleology 2.0

Here's what you need to know:

• Upgrading to 2.0 is free.
• We'll send this invitation out to blocks of 10,000 users at a time. This process may take several days, but it's the best way for us to ensure the stability of the system during the transition.
• Products and memberships you purchased will be unaffected by the upgrade. (you will still have access to everything you did before)
• You can still choose between two account types: Free and Premium. (the benefits of both will increase significantly in the coming weeks and months)
• There's one feature you may notice is missing: online checklists for the courseware. This will be added back soon where it belongs: with the courseware.

Once you've upgraded, we're very eager to hear what you think. So, please keep the feedback coming. (We're building this for you, after all ...)

How to send feedback:

• Comment here on this blog post.
• Send private feedback to our Customer Care team.
• Vote for or request new features.

There's a lot more to come, but that's enough for today ... I'll be checking this blog post and personally answering everyone I can.

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We're about to completely change everything around here.

We have some huge plans - and you can probably already see some of the changes taking place already ...

So many of you have been talking, and we've been listening.

But we want to open this conversation up to the larger Simpleology community.

If you could wave that proverbial magic wand and get any change/improvement to Simpleology you could imagine, what would that look like?

What could we do that would help you achieve your hopes and dreams faster?

We're about to hit 1,000,000 Simpleology users (more about that in a day or two), and we want to hit that number in style.

So, chime in below. How can we serve you better? Don't hold back. I'll be personally replying to as many of you as I possibly can.

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