The PARA Method

Takeaways

• PARA (Tiago Forte): four categories for all digital information—Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives—optimized for action, not perfect taxonomy.
• Projects = short-term efforts with a deadline/outcome; Areas = ongoing responsibilities (Health, Finances, Engineering); Resources = topics of interest; Archives = inactive items from the other three.
• Core thesis: the best organizational system is actionable—pulls next steps closer instead of adding filing overhead.
• Radically simple on purpose: “just enough” order for clarity to move forward; should give more time than it takes to maintain.
• Cross-platform (filesystem, cloud, notes apps); maps cleanly onto this vault’s Projects / ToDos / SoM / Clippings split with different naming.

Notes

Fortelabs BASB lineage; article also teases AI-assisted PARA filing. Direct reference for vault KB routing (/kb-triage) and why human-intent homes stay separate from wiki compile layer.

Open questions

• Where does Wiki/ (compile/synthesis) sit relative to PARA Resources vs. Areas in Ben’s mental model?