The PARA Method: Simplify, Organize, and Master Your Digital Life

by Tiago Forte

In other words, the ultimate system for organizing your life is one that is actionable.

The problem with keeping everything is that it quickly starts to consume a resource even more scarce than physical space: your attention. Every time you see all those random files strewn across your computer desktop, Documents folder, cloud drive, or notes app, some of your mental energy gets drained away.

From the perspective of your brain, your information environment is just as important as your physical one, and it won’t let you rest as long as it feels uncertain and threatening.

Here’s what I want you to do: select all the existing files, documents, folders, notes, etc. in your Documents folder (which may number in the hundreds or even thousands or more) and move them all at once into a new folder called “Archive [Today’s date].”

In the midst of a hectic week, you won’t usually have time to perfectly capture, title, and file away new items as they arrive. Which means you need a separate time and place to “process” new items. I recommend creating an additional, fifth folder alongside the four we’ve already covered, on each major platform you use (such as your Documents folder, cloud storage drive, and notetaking app) with the title “Inbox.”

Take a minute to activate offline mode for just the Projects folder (and its subfolders) on each device you use while traveling, in transit, or when you just want to shut off the Wi-Fi and focus.9

For that reason, I recommend you do all the upkeep of your PARA system in just five minutes per week. All you need to do is follow these three easy steps: Retitle new items in your inbox Sort new items into PARA folders Update your active projects Let’s take a closer look at each one.

There’s nothing fancy or technical about these names. Sometimes I include a date, and sometimes I don’t. All I’m doing is giving each item the shortest, simplest, easiest-to-understand title I can think of within a few seconds.

An inbox you’ve created in your Documents folder (recommended in chapter 4) An inbox for your cloud storage drive An inbox in your digital notetaking app

Don’t think of the Archive as an “idea graveyard” where information goes to die. Your archives represent the sum total of your life experience, a treasure trove of hard-won lessons and profound insights you’ve gained from both successes and failures alike. I guarantee it will contain useful material you can reuse and recycle in future endeavors.

Reusing these knowledge assets not only saves me tremendous amounts of time—it makes me feel like I’m starting a marathon at the halfway point, instead of at the starting line like everyone else.

An area of responsibility has: A standard to be maintained An indefinite end date Work-related areas include your job duties, whether that is management, customer service, financial analysis, strategy, coaching, direct reports, or advising. You also have areas of responsibility in your personal life, like your health, finances, personal development, and relationships, which will continue in some form for as long as you live. In all the examples above, the areas have no particular outcome to be achieved. There is no finish line you can reach that allows you to “complete” your health, or “finish” strategy once and for all, or “check off” finances as an ongoing concern. Instead of a goal, an area of responsibility has a standard you’re trying to maintain.

To put it simply: projects end, while areas continue indefinitely.

Areas are parts of our lives that require ongoing attention to uphold a certain level of quality or performance. It’s helpful to think of them as the “roles you play” or the “hats you wear” at work and in life.

Resources encompass the vast number of things you might be interested in, curious about, or passionate about at any given time.

Resources can also include your hobbies and passions: woodworking, bread baking, or playing the piano.

The word “resources” calls to mind the utility of a piece of information. Instead of asking, “Is this interesting?” which always results in overcollecting, I ask myself, “Is this useful?” That’s a much higher bar and forces me to consider what this piece of information will allow me to do that I couldn’t do otherwise, which problem it could help me solve, or which obstacle it might help me overcome.

I use the following rules of thumb to tell me which digital storage medium is best for any given piece of information: If it’s an appointment or meeting happening at a specific time, it goes on my calendar If it’s a task that I can complete anytime, it goes in my to-do list app If it’s text, it goes in my notetaking app (since that offers the best search function by which to find it again) If it’s content that I’ll be collaborating on with others, it goes in my cloud storage drive10

There is one exception to the above: if I want to save a sensitive piece of information—a tax document, credit card details, medical data, or passwords for example—I save it in an encrypted password manager app to make sure no one can access it except me.