Using the PARA Method with Evernote and Things3 (BASB)
Summary
TLDRThis walkthrough demonstrates the PARA method for organizing reference material within the Getting Things Done (GTD) framework. PARA stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives, creating a continuum from actionable to non-actionable information. The speaker uses digital tools like Evernote and Things to manage projects, areas, and notes, illustrating how to integrate online materials into a digital second brain. The video guides viewers through the process of saving and categorizing information, ensuring efficiency and accessibility.
Takeaways
- 📚 The PARA method stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives, and is used for organizing non-actionable information in digital notes.
- 🔍 Projects are the most actionable category, while archives are the least actionable, creating a continuum for organizing reference material.
- 🗂️ Reference material that could potentially be used for action is placed in the 'Projects' folder, while ongoing standards are maintained in the 'Areas' folder.
- 📚 Subject-specific interests, like psychology or philosophy, are categorized under 'Resources'.
- 🗄️ Completed projects or material that is no longer needed is moved to the 'Archives'.
- 💻 The speaker uses a GTD app called 'Things' for their action management and Evernote for their digital notes and knowledge management.
- 📁 In Evernote, there is an 'Inbox' for reference material, similar to the 'Inbox' in the GTD app for actions.
- 🔗 'Listen Later' and 'Watch Later' inboxes are used for saving podcasts and YouTube videos to be consumed later.
- 📝 Notebooks in Evernote are associated with projects and GTD areas, allowing for a dual system of organization.
- 🏠 An example given is organizing notes for a trip to Portugal, which includes emails and other related documents in a dedicated notebook.
- 📋 The speaker demonstrates how to save online material, like articles, into Evernote using the Web Clipper and categorizing them into the appropriate notebooks.
- 🗃️ The process of organizing includes saving material to an 'Inbox' initially and later processing it to move to the correct notebook or project folder.
Q & A
What does GTD stand for and what is its purpose?
-GTD stands for 'Getting Things Done', which is a time management method designed to help individuals organize tasks and manage time effectively.
What is the PARA method and how does it relate to GTD?
-The PARA method stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives. It is a system for organizing non-actionable, potentially actionable information in digital notes, which complements the GTD methodology by providing a structure for managing reference material.
What are the four categories in the PARA method and how do they differ in terms of actionability?
-The four categories in the PARA method are Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives. Projects are the most actionable, while Archives are the least actionable. Areas are for maintaining standards, and Resources are for subjects of interest.
How does the speaker organize actionable items in the GTD system?
-The speaker organizes actionable items using the GTD system with an inbox, next actions, someday/maybe, and projects. Each project has corresponding notebooks in Evernote for note-taking and reference.
What is the role of 'inbox' in both the GTD and Evernote systems mentioned in the script?
-In both systems, the 'inbox' serves as a collection point for incoming items that require processing. In GTD, it's for actions, while in Evernote, it's for reference material.
How does the speaker use Evernote in conjunction with the GTD system?
-The speaker uses Evernote as a digital note-taking tool, or a 'second brain', to manage and organize reference material. It mirrors the structure of the GTD system with inboxes, projects, areas, and archives in Evernote notebooks.
What is the significance of 'stack' in the context of the speaker's Evernote setup?
-In the speaker's Evernote setup, a 'stack' refers to a collection of notebooks associated with different projects, which helps in organizing and accessing project-related notes efficiently.
Can you provide an example of how the speaker organizes a piece of reference material in Evernote?
-The speaker uses the Evernote Web Clipper to save a simplified version of an article into a corresponding notebook, such as a productivity notebook in the Resources stack, or into the inbox for later processing.
What is the process for organizing a piece of material related to an ongoing project in the speaker's system?
-The speaker saves the material as a bookmark and then places it into the specific project folder in Evernote, ensuring that all project-related notes are easily accessible when working on the project.
How does the speaker handle the processing of the Evernote inbox, similar to the GTD inbox?
-The speaker processes the Evernote inbox in a manner similar to the GTD inbox, by regularly reviewing and organizing the saved items into appropriate notebooks or projects.
What is the purpose of the 'someday/maybe' category in the GTD system?
-The 'someday/maybe' category in the GTD system is for tasks or projects that are not currently actionable but might be considered for action in the future.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to the PARA Method for Reference Material Organization
The speaker introduces a walkthrough of their method for organizing reference material using the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology, focusing on the PARA method learned from Thiago Forte. PARA stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives, creating a continuum for organizing non-actionable information in digital notes. Projects are the most actionable, while archives are the least. The speaker plans to demonstrate how to use this system with examples from their browser and GTD app, Things, and Evernote as their knowledge management tool.
🗂️ Explaining the PARA Method and its Application in GTD
The speaker elaborates on the PARA method, explaining that it is used for organizing reference material that may or may not lead to action. Projects are the most actionable and are placed in the 'projects' folder, while 'areas' are for maintaining standards. 'Resources' are for subjects of interest, and 'archives' are for completed projects or materials that are no longer needed. The speaker provides a visual demonstration using their GTD app, Things, and Evernote, showing how they organize their digital notes with similar structures, including an inbox for reference material and separate notebooks for different projects and areas.
🏠 Using PARA in Practice: The Portugal Trip Example
As a practical example, the speaker discusses planning a trip to Portugal, showing how they use Evernote notebooks corresponding to their GTD projects. They mention a notebook for the Portugal trip containing emails and related materials. The speaker also explains how they process their Evernote inbox, similar to the GTD inbox, and how they save materials using the Evernote Web Clipper, assigning them to the appropriate notebooks or the inbox for later processing.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡GTD
💡PARA method
💡Projects
💡Areas
💡Resources
💡Archives
💡Evernote
💡Inbox
💡Knowledge Management
💡Web Clipper
💡Stack
Highlights
Introduction to the PARA method for organizing reference material in GTD, learned from Thiago Forte.
PARA stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives, with a continuum from most to least actionable.
Projects are the most actionable category, while archives are the least actionable.
Reference material that could potentially be used for action is placed in the Projects folder.
Material related to standards to be maintained goes in the Areas folder.
Subjects of interest like psychology, philosophy, math, etc., are categorized under Resources.
Completed projects and material to be discarded are moved to the Archives.
Demonstration of the PARA system using the GTD app 'Things' and Evernote for digital notes.
Evernote has similarities with the GTD system, such as an inbox for reference material.
Explanation of the 'Someday Maybe' and 'Stack' features in Evernote for organizing notes.
Correspondence between GTD projects and Evernote notebooks for managing notes related to projects.
Example of organizing an article on productivity using Evernote Web Clipper and saving it to a notebook.
Default notebook for saving material that doesn't have an immediate categorization.
Processing the Evernote inbox similar to processing the GTD inbox for organization.
Example of saving a tour of a flat in Portugal to the corresponding project folder in Evernote.
Using notebooks to easily access and work on project-related material when needed.
Transcripts
I'm going to share a little walkthrough
of how I organize my reference material
in GTD so we're looking at this branch
of the GTD tree and I want to show you
specifically the para method which is
something I learned from Thiago Forte
which is very GTD esque but it's a
system for organizing non-actionable
potentially actionable information in
digital notes so let's talk a little bit
about the para method
um para stands for projects areas
resources and archives
and the whole idea is that projects are
the most actionable
category of organization and archives
are the least actionable and so there's
a Continuum here
where when you get a piece of reference
material
that that isn't an action in and of
itself it's something that could
potentially be used for Action you put
in the projects folder
and then if it's something that has to
do with standards to be maintained you
put in the areas folder and if it's a
subject of Interest like psychology
philosophy math whatever just things
that you're interested in you put them
in your resources and then whenever
there's stuff that you just don't want
to throw away that you're done with like
for instance if we finish a project you
move it to archives
so I'm going to show you what this looks
like and I've also left some tabs open
in my browser so I can use them as
examples for how I would organize them
in a para system
and I'll start by going to my GTD app
which I use things so this is just
standard GTD there's an inbox here
there's the next actions they call them
anytime there's someday maybe all my
projects are on the left hand side I'm
not sure if you're familiar with this
hat but this is my personal favorite and
then all my areas are over here
and then for my digital notes my my
knowledge management or my second brain
I use Evernote so this is Evernote to
the right you'll notice some
similarities so there's an inbox which
is the same as as just an in basket but
for reference material as opposed to
actions
and then there's these two listen later
and watch later inboxes so this is if
somebody sends me a podcast that I I'm
going to listen to later I'll put it
here or a YouTube video I'll put it here
and then you have para so projects areas
resources and archives you can ignore
these this is just stuff that I need to
organize there's also someday maybe here
um and a stack is just a collection of
notebooks I don't know if you're
familiar with Evernote so I apologize if
this is just very basic but each of
these are notebooks
that are associated with projects and
you'll notice it's not one to one but
there's projects here in my GTD system
that have corresponding notebooks in my
Evernote so for instance I'm planning a
trip to Portugal and so I have like a
bunch of emails and stuff related to the
trip and I have a little notebook here
I'm also renting out my house so I had
to like apply for uh rental agreements
and things like that so these are all my
notes associated with my Portugal trip
and here I don't really have that many
actions remaining but you can see how I
I can work between these two places to
achieve the outcome of the trip
this actually should be
Raider
so let's uh
let's let's come back to areas
um
the same the same thing happens here so
it's not perfectly one-to-one because
I'm not always updating them but
basically I have areas I have like you
know there's a dating area there's a
health area I have notebooks associated
with each GTD area in Evernote now what
does this look like when I'm organizing
material online so let's say this
article is something that I wanna
save into my digital notes
I use the Evernote Web Clipper which can
take a simplified article and then I
will save it to a corresponding notebook
and in this case this isn't associated
with a specific project this is just
general productivity
so I have a productivity notebook in my
resources
stack so I'll just save it there
often if I don't really know where it's
going to go I'll also just save it to
the inbox that that's usually the
default notebook and then later I'll
process my Evernote inbox just like how
I'll process my my things inbox my GTD
inbox so let's just do that for now
let me do one more example
um so this is uh somebody sent me a tour
of their their flat in in Portugal I
want to say this to my
uh my folder related to my Portugal trip
I'll save it as a bookmark in this case
and then I'll do the Portugal project
folder I'll save it there
and now when I'm working on that project
trying to decide on a place to live
all I have to do is is open
this uh this notebook
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