The PARA Method
Tiago Forte · 2023
The PARA Method (2023) is a book by Tiago Forte on Note-Taking & Second Brain. Tiago Forte's compact system for organizing every note, file and document into just four categories. Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives, sorted by actionability rather than subject, so your digital life serves your goals.
One four-folder system. Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives, that finally makes your digital life findable, because it files by what you're doing instead of what things are about.
Two of the ideas you’ll keep
The Clif summary of The PARA Method pulls out 7 insights. Here are the first two.
- PARA organizes information by **actionability**, not by subject. The question is never "what is this about?" but "which of my current efforts does this move forward?", which is why the same article can live in a project folder this month and an archive next month.
- The four categories are ordered by urgency: **Projects** (short-term efforts with a goal and an end date), **Areas** (ongoing responsibilities with a standard to maintain), **Resources** (topics of interest for the future), **Archives** (anything inactive from the other three).
The other 5 — and the full 10-minute summary — are in the app.
What’s inside: 8 chapters
The whole summary runs about 10 minutes, read or listened to.
- The Problem Isn't Information: It's Where You Put It
- Projects: Things With a Finish Line
- Areas: The Standards You Maintain Forever
- Resources and Archives: Curiosity and the Cold Store
- The Clean Slate Setup
- One System, Mirrored Everywhere
- Keep Things Moving, Not Perfect
- PARA in Service of Output
Finish The PARA Method tonight.
Read or listen to the full summary in about 10 minutes, then keep the ideas with a minute of review a day. Start with the 2-minute quiz — no card required.
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