The PARA method was created by productivity expert Tiago Forte in the 2010s. It emerged from his exploration of the most natural and effortless way to organize information—by projects—and evolved through experimentation with thousands of students and followers.
PARA is an acronym representing four universal categories of information in our lives:
- Projects, for active tasks or outcomes you’re currently working on that have a clear goal and deadline, i.e.:
- specific, actionable items with deadlines;
- tasks related to a single goal (launch new website, prepare presentation for client, etc.);
- current work or personal projects that require frequent updates;
- project plans, progress tracking, and related files.
- Areas, for ongoing responsibilities or spheres of activity that need regular maintenance but no specific deadline (long-term roles or standards in your life/work). This is the best category for:
- responsibilities and roles you maintain over time;
- areas you want to keep in good shape (health, finances, marketing, etc.);
- goals or standards related to these areas;
- reference materials connected to these areas but not tied to a single project.
- Resources, for materials or information that might be useful someday but aren’t immediately actionable, i.e.:
- notes, articles, templates, research, manuals, guides;
- inspirational content, educational resources, bookmarks;
- anything you want to keep for learning or future use but isn’t tied to a project or area directly.
- and Archives, for inactive or completed items that you want to keep for record-keeping or future reference but don’t need actively, like:
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completed projects;
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old reference materials no longer in use;
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past documents, receipts, or files you want to retain;
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anything you want to store but not clutter your active workspace.
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These categories cover all types of information, from any source, in any format, and for any purpose. Unlike a mere storage system, PARA is a production system designed to keep your work organized and easily accessible. The method encourages starting with an active project, gathering all related notes and materials into one folder, working intensively with what you already have, and iterating through drafts while collecting feedback.
This approach helps maintain focus, streamline progress, and integrate learning continuously, making PARA a practical and flexible system for managing knowledge and tasks.
The PARA method was introduced and popularized by Tiago Forte in his book Building a Second Brain. In this work, Forte presents PARA as a flexible and universal framework designed to help individuals organize their digital information efficiently in a second brain, enabling better productivity and creativity by keeping projects, areas, resources, and archives clearly separated and easily accessible.