PARA

PARA Method

The PARA method is a framework for organizing digital information that consists of four categories: projects, areas, resources, and archives.

Why a framework for notetaking is required?

Without a framework for notetaking it is really hard to structure information in the longer run, If we do not have a structure / framework it is also really hard to revisit these notes and gain insights from them whenever needed.

We struggle in notetaking and note keeping in general because we don’t have a framework that helps us to make decisions about where things should go and we have to remember a complex set of rules or redo decisions over and over again.

Instead we want to create a workflow that we can follow every single time we create a new note or save a new document that workflow follows.

What is PARA?

• Projects :

  • Projects are any outcome you’re actively committed to that requires multiple work sessions to complete.
    • Have a goal
    • Have a deadline
    • Have a highest scale on Actionability

• Areas :

  • A role or a responsibility that you have that has a standard you want to maintain over time.
    • Roles and Responsibilities
    • Ongoing maintenance
    • They often never completed
    • They come 2nd on the scale of Actionability

• Resources :

  • Are really any topic of ongoing interest or any kind of just useful reference and they’re basically like a catch-all for everything else that isn’t something you need to keep track of right now.
    • Ongoing Interests
    • Inspiration for future projects
    • They come 3rd on the scale of Actionability

• Archives :

  • Think of them like cold storage they’re almost completely unactionable just waiting there in case you need to find or reference them sometime in the future
    • Inactive items from any of the above three categories
    • Least actionable

Why PARA ?

The whole purpose of PARA and the power of it is that you can use it anywhere and everywhere. The framework fits into most of the places where we store information.

what we really don’t want to do is have a completely different organizing philosophy / framework in each one of the many dozens of places where you keep and store information.

Summary

The PARA method is a framework for organizing digital information that consists of four categories: projects, areas, resources, and archives. Projects are actionable and have a deadline, while areas are ongoing responsibilities that lack a specific goal. Resources are topics of interest that are not actionable, and archives are inactive items from any of the previous categories. The key is to have a unified organizing philosophy across all digital environments.

Thoughts & Questions

1. What are the benefits of using the PARA method for organizing digital information?
2. How does the PARA method differ from other note-taking and knowledge management systems?
3. Can the PARA method be applied to other areas of life beyond digital organization?