How to Organize Your Digital Life in Seconds (PARA Method) | Part 1
Summary
TLDRThe video introduces 'PARA', a digital organization system that streamlines note-taking and knowledge management. PARA stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives, offering a framework to categorize information efficiently. The system is designed to minimize decision-making about information storage, allowing users to focus on action. The speaker shares his personal use of PARA in Evernote, demonstrating how thousands of notes are organized into clear, actionable categories, and how the system can adapt to various digital environments.
Takeaways
- 📚 PARA is a popular organizing framework for digital information, consisting of Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives.
- 🏆 Projects are outcomes you're actively working towards and have a deadline, making them action-oriented and short-term focused.
- 🎯 Areas are ongoing roles or responsibilities with no specific end goal, requiring long-term attention and maintenance.
- 📘 Resources are topics of interest or useful references that are not immediately actionable but may be needed for future projects or areas.
- 🗃️ Archives are inactive items from projects, areas, or resources, stored for potential future reference without cluttering the workspace.
- 🔍 The PARA system simplifies note-taking and knowledge management by providing a consistent workflow for organizing new notes or documents.
- 📝 PARA helps to minimize the time spent on organizing and maximize focus on taking action by answering how to organize notes and files once and for all.
- 💡 The script provides a personal example of organizing notes in Evernote using the PARA system, with thousands of notes categorized into four clear groups.
- 📈 The speaker has 19 active projects, illustrating how the PARA system can manage a diverse range of goals and outcomes.
- 📑 Areas cover both personal and professional aspects of life, ensuring ongoing relevance and attention to various aspects of one's responsibilities.
- 🌐 Resources serve as a diverse catch-all for information that may be useful or interesting in the future, ready to be activated for specific projects or areas.
- 🔗 The PARA system is designed to be universally applicable, allowing for consistent organization across all digital environments and platforms.
Q & A
What is the purpose of the PARA framework?
-The purpose of the PARA framework is to provide a consistent and efficient system for organizing notes and files, minimizing the time spent on decision-making about where to store information and allowing for focus on action instead of constant reorganization.
What does PARA stand for in the context of the organizing system?
-PARA stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives, which are the four main categories used to categorize and organize information.
What are 'Projects' in the PARA framework?
-Projects are any outcomes that one is actively committed to, requiring multiple work sessions to complete. They have a clear goal and a timeframe for completion, making them action-oriented and short-term focused.
What are the two important features of projects according to the script?
-The two important features of projects are having an outcome or goal to reach and having a deadline or a time frame by which they should be completed.
What are 'Areas' in the PARA framework?
-Areas are roles or responsibilities that one has, with a standard one wants to maintain over time. Unlike projects, areas are never really complete and require ongoing attention.
Can you provide an example of an 'Area' from the script?
-Examples of areas from the script include finances, health, and relationships, where one might track taxes, weight or cholesterol, and gift ideas or favorite places to visit with a significant other.
What are 'Resources' in the PARA framework?
-Resources are topics of ongoing interest or useful references that are not immediately needed for a project or area but might be of interest or use in the future.
How does the script describe the 'Archives' category?
-The 'Archives' category is described as inactive items from the other three categories, serving as cold storage for items that are not currently actionable but may be needed for reference in the future.
What is the significance of numbering the PARA categories?
-The numbering of the PARA categories (1 for Projects, 2 for Areas, 3 for Resources, and 4 for Archives) is to organize them in order of actionability, from most to least, helping to prioritize and streamline the workflow.
How does the speaker organize their notes in Evernote?
-The speaker organizes their notes in Evernote using the PARA framework, with notebooks (folders) labeled and numbered according to the PARA categories, allowing for a clear and straightforward sorting of thousands of notes.
What is the speaker's approach to archiving projects in Evernote?
-The speaker archives projects in Evernote by moving completed or inactive projects into the Archives category, ensuring that the material is still searchable and accessible without cluttering the workspace.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to the PARA Organizing System
The speaker introduces the PARA (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives) system, a framework for organizing digital information. The PARA system is designed to simplify note-taking and knowledge management by providing a clear workflow for categorizing new notes or documents. Projects are described as active commitments with outcomes and deadlines, while areas represent ongoing responsibilities. Resources are topics of interest or useful references, and archives are for inactive items. The speaker emphasizes the importance of this system in minimizing decision-making time and maintaining focus on action rather than constant reorganization.
🔍 Deep Dive into PARA Categories and Workflow
This paragraph provides a detailed exploration of the PARA system's categories. Projects are further broken down into subfolders for each active goal, with the speaker sharing their own active projects as examples. Areas encompass various aspects of life that require ongoing attention, such as health, finances, and personal development. Resources are diverse topics of interest, serving as a repository for potential future use. Archives are described as a 'cold storage' for past projects and information. The speaker demonstrates how thousands of notes can be organized into these four categories within their digital note-taking app, Evernote, emphasizing the system's scalability and efficiency.
🗃️ Utilizing PARA Across Digital Environments
The speaker discusses the versatility of the PARA system, highlighting its applicability across various digital platforms and environments. They show how their digital note-taking app serves as the core of their 'second brain,' but also stress the importance of maintaining a consistent organizing philosophy across all information storage locations. The speaker promises to guide viewers on how to implement the PARA system in different apps and environments in upcoming videos, aiming to help viewers create a comprehensive and unified organizational system.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Pera
💡Projects
💡Areas
💡Resources
💡Archives
💡Workflow
💡Note-taking
💡Knowledge Management
💡Evernote
💡Actionable
💡Categorization
Highlights
Introduction to the PARA organizing system for digital life.
PARA stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives.
Projects are outcomes requiring multiple work sessions with a goal and deadline.
Areas represent ongoing roles or responsibilities with a standard to maintain.
Resources are topics of interest or useful references for potential future use.
Archives are inactive items from projects, areas, and resources, serving as cold storage.
The importance of not deleting material but archiving it for future reference.
PARA aims to minimize time spent on organizing and maximize action.
Demonstration of the PARA system using Evernote as a digital note-taking app.
Evernote's notebooks are used as folders within the PARA system.
Projects are organized with subfolders for each active project.
The typical number of active projects ranges from 15 to 25.
Examples of organizing notes within project folders for easy access.
Areas include both personal and professional life aspects.
Resources act as a catch-all for diverse information not immediately actionable.
The ability to convert a resource into a project for focused action.
Archives serve as a comprehensive record of past projects and activities.
PARA's universality allows it to be applied across various digital environments.
Upcoming videos will provide step-by-step instructions for implementing PARA.
Transcripts
let me introduce you to Pera the
organizing system that I use to organize
information across my entire Digital
Life this is the single most popular
framework I've ever developed and in
this video I'm going to show you how it
works
most people over complicate their
note-taking and Knowledge Management
because they don't have a framework that
helps them make decisions about where
things should go they have to remember a
complex set of rules or redo decisions
over and over again instead I want you
to create a workflow that you can follow
every single time you create a new note
or save a new document that workflow
follows the four letters of paraph your
projects areas resources and archives
let's talk more about each one
projects are any outcome you're actively
committed to that requires multiple work
sessions to complete projects have two
important features first they have an
outcome a goal that you're trying to
reach and second projects end they have
a deadline or a time frame you want to
complete them by the key thing to notice
about projects is that they're important
they're actionable right now they're
action oriented and short term in Focus
some examples writing a new blog post
reorganizing a part of your house potty
training a dog planning a vacation trip
each of these Endeavors will require
different kinds of information notes and
research plans schedules and you'll need
a way to track the thoughts and ideas
that you have over time I'll show you my
current projects and how I organize them
shortly second areas an area is a role
or a responsibility that you have that
has a standard you want to maintain over
time areas are never really complete
there's no goal that you reach and check
off that thing Forever The key thing to
notice about areas they're important and
relevant on an ongoing basis including
right now but unlike projects they're
also important later too they aren't
quite as actionable as projects but
still require attention for example in
your finances you might need to keep
track of taxes for your health that
could be your weight or cholesterol for
your relationship with your significant
other gift ideas or favorite places that
you might want to visit together so you
see even though you can't complete an
area it's still important to be able to
track your ideas and your information
and your dreams and your wishes over
time for each area
third we have resources resources is
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 for say
a project or an area but it might be
interesting in the future they are low
on actionability they're waiting to be
activated later for future projects or
future areas that they could contribute
to a few examples interesting subjects
you'd like to learn more about random
interests and hobbies places you'd like
to visit one day content or quotes or
information related to architecture or
books you've read it can really be
anything sometimes these resources are
for fun or just in case other times
they're very practical like recipes or
case studies for your business or photos
for a future project even if it's not
something you're committed to right now
fourth we have the archives your
archives are just inactive items from
any of the three previous categories
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
the key for archives is that whenever a
project becomes inactive you don't want
to delete that material there's no
reason to delete anything these days
just archive it that way it can still be
searched for later can be accessible
whenever you have a Notes app available
such as on your computer your tablet or
your smartphone but in the meantime it
won't clutter up your workspace and
distract your focus I put resources and
projects into the archives pretty often
the projects are the most commonly
archived because they have a built-in
completion date it's rare that I'd
archive an entire area but it does
happen for example if I have a big life
change or decide to change my priorities
this is how I organize my notes and all
my files and the key is that I can have
all of these categories in every single
part of my life I have the exact same
system in Google Drive on my personal
computer among other places the purpose
of para is really to answer the question
how do I organize my notes and files
once and for all and therefore to
minimize the amount of time I'm spending
making that decision every day focusing
on taking action instead of constantly
reorganizing things let me give you a
little tour of what my own para system
looks like day to day what you see on
the screen is my digital note-taking app
which is Evernote been using it for
years I just clicked here on the left
where it says notebooks notebooks is
what Evernote calls folders some note
taking systems also use tags which work
just as well many thousands of notes I
think I have more than six or seven
thousand notes they all fit into just
four very straightforward clear
categories think about how amazing that
is that thousands of discrete pieces of
information can be easily sorted into
four groups project areas resources and
archives I like to put a number before
each one one two three and four so that
they appear in this order from most
actionable to least actionable before we
dive into what is contained within each
of these para categories take a look at
this number in parentheses after each
one so think of this number one projects
as a folder and then within that big
folder there are a number of smaller
subfolders one for each active project I
typically find that most people have
somewhere between 15 and 25 projects
that might actually seem like a lot but
if you take the time to really list out
all the different goals and outcomes
that you're working toward 15 to 25 is
quite a standard number so you can see
here that I have 19 currently active
projects my taxes for last year I have a
blog post that I'm working on I have
cohorts of my online course I have the
book that I'm launching 18 notes related
to my son's education plan uh all sorts
of different things and once again look
at the numbers in parentheses for an
idea of how much information I'm keeping
for each one of these projects it ranges
from zero so you can tell I really have
not even started on the research for
this article that I'm writing all the
way to some that have 25 or 30 or the
biggest one of all which is the book
I've been working on for a couple years
which is 71 notes let's just take a look
at the notes contained within one of
these project folders if I look at the
brand Identity Design that we've been
creating for building a second brain for
example I can see all sorts of things
from brainstorms around different words
that we wanted to use in our branding to
some notes on fair use there is imagery
from Pinterest that we might want to
draw on all sorts of different things
that anytime I'm working on this project
I want to just be able to click one
place and have these nodes displayed
before me let's go back to notebooks
close the project stack which is what
this is called within Evernote and let's
take a look at areas this is really
really every single area of my life that
I have information to keep track of all
the ones that start with FL are business
related FL stands for Forte Labs my
company and you can see it ranges from
my son to our car to finances my health
my wife my personal development those
are all the personal ones and then on
the business side there's administrative
stuff there is notes related to our
course related to email related to Legal
marketing people the studio where we're
filming this right now our website these
are kind of like the two halves of my
life my personal life and my
professional life let's close the areas
stack and take a look at resources so
here's kind of everything else all the
other topics and subjects that I'm
interested in from climate change to
marketing to design music Neuroscience
other ones are more like assets like
stock photos so this is kind of a grab
bag a catch-all of very diverse kinds of
information the important thing is that
none of this is particularly actionable
it's all kind of just in case it's when
needed as needed let's take a look at
what's contained within say a resource
Notebook on habits and behavior change
so I have notes from an article called
The Art of laser focus I have notes from
a paper on something called the good art
effect I have highlights from an article
called habits versus goals think about
how useful this is when the time comes
and this might be rare that I really
want to look at my habits and my
routines I really want to change my
routines I don't have to spend hours
trying to find all the different things
I've read and heard in the past about
habits it's all here in one centralized
place and I could actually get this
entire notebook retitle it to a project
like you know start a meditation routine
or create a morning routine or some
specific outcome that I'm trying to
achieve and I could move the entire
notebook from the resources straight
right over here to the projects in one
step let's go back to notebooks collapse
the resources and take a look at
archives archives is the Cold Storage
there's more notebooks and archives than
all the others combined and that's the
way it should be right archives is
everything you've done in the past
everything I've done in the past is way
more extensive than the stuff that I'm
working on right now so everything from
you know past years taxes to um old
apartments that I was looking for so
previous cohorts of my course there's so
many things that I've done in the past I
really only go in here if there's a
specific thing that I'm looking for but
just scrolling through this list is such
a blast from the past it's such a walk
down memory lane through all the very
diverse interesting things that I've
been involved with in the past it's
actually inspiring to me it reminds me
of the breadth of experience that I have
it's almost like my portfolio it's like
a resume of all the stuff that I've done
and achieved in the past except instead
of you know one page resume with some
lines of text I can click into any one
of these and see for example all the
details about you know the apartment
that we had in Mexico how to transfer
money to my landlord in Mexico like who
knows if this will ever be relevant
again but if it ever is or let's say I
have a friend who moves to Mexico and
wants some advice I know exactly where
it's found and it will always be here
for my safekeeping so this is my digital
note-taking app that I've just shown you
and I think of my notes app as kind of
the neural center of my second brain
it's the core of it but the whole
purpose of para the power of it is that
you can use it everywhere what you
really don't want to do is have a
completely different organizing
philosophy in each one of the many
dozens of places where you keep
information
in the next few videos of this series
I'll show you step by step how to create
your project list how to actually move
your notes into the para categories and
even app specific workflows for how to
use para and different kinds of apps and
different digital environments thanks
for watching and talk more soon
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