The PARA method isn’t just a folder structure. It’s a foundation for a productive life and effective thinking.
It helps you set priorities, unload your head and turn chaos into order.
PARA = Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive
Everything you save should land in one of these 4 categories. No more, no less. That’s the power of the method.
See how the method’s author describes PARA:
From the book "Building a Second Brain" by Tiago Forte:
There’s a parallel between the PARA system and organising a kitchen. In a kitchen everything is designed and organised for one outcome — cooking food as efficiently as possible. Archives are like the freezer — their items are frozen until you need them, which may be far in the future. Resources are like the pantry: available for cooking any dish, but tucked away. Areas of life are like the fridge — you plan to use its contents relatively soon, and you check it more often. And Projects are the pots and pans on the stove — the very dishes you’re cooking right now. All the ingredients are where it’s most convenient for you to reach them for cooking.
Continued
Imagine how absurd it would be to organise a kitchen by food type: for example, fresh fruit, dried fruit, fruit juices and frozen fruit all stored in one place because they’re fruit. Yet that’s exactly how most people organise their files and notes — book notes collected together just because the data came from books, or all quotes saved together because they’re quotes.
1️⃣ Projects
Projects are temporary tasks with a clear goal. You’re working on them right now.
Examples:
- Launch a startup MVP on Bubble
- Make a YouTube video about Obsidian
- Prepare a pitch for an investor
In Obsidian: each note in the Projects folder is a separate project. It holds checklists, links, ideas, deadlines.
For example, I run a “YouTube content” project using the kanban plugin.
2️⃣ Areas
Areas are long-term domains that need ongoing attention: health, finances, learning, relationships.
Examples:
- Physical condition (goal — 75 kg and exercise)
- Education (a master’s + books)
- Personal brand (YouTube and Telegram)
In Obsidian: the
Areasfolder isn't just lists.These are places where I track consistency. For example, I keep a Kanban board for reading books — at least 1 book a month.
3️⃣ Resources
This is your library of knowledge. Everything useful goes here: quotes, articles, frameworks, ideas. Even thoughts from podcasts and books.
Examples:
- An article about Customer Discovery
- The “Lean Canvas” framework
- Articles about productivity
In Obsidian: I use
Resourcesto store structured information.
I often make callouts with 💡, save key ideas and link them to projects (remember the CODE method)
4️⃣ Archive
The archive is simply set aside. Finished projects, outdated notes, old ideas.
Examples:
- The first version of a startup template
- Videos I’ve already published
- Drafts of no-longer-relevant tasks
In Obsidian: anything that gets in the way of my current focus, I move to the
Archivefolder.It frees up attention and reduces visual noise.
🔁 How it works together with CODE
The PARA method pairs perfectly with CODE:
- In
Captureyou save everything important (in theInbox) - With
Organize— you distribute it across PARA - In
Distill— you extract the essence and form a resource - Through
Express— you use it: in videos, templates, ideas
💡 Why PARA changes your thinking
- 📌 You start thinking structurally — every piece of knowledge has a “home”.
- ⛏️ You cut out the excess — only what matters goes into the system.
- ⚙️ You speed up your actions — the info you need is at hand at the right moment.
‼️ Sometimes it’s better to refrain from moving notes between folders
Why?
There are notes in Resources that never lose their relevance and may come in handy more than once in the future.
What to do in that case?
Roughly speaking, in your resources you have a useful piece of code/automation scheme/useful information about some sensor and how it works.
All of this can be used in many projects; dragging the note into a project in this case makes no sense — it’s better to leave it in resources and constantly reference it,
You can move it physically, of course, but then it’s no longer a resource, but a link to an archived project, which wouldn’t be quite logical
Continued
You don’t need to move something somewhere, bury something somewhere — you need to organise your space, where you’ll record everything and reference what was created earlier. In that case you’d have to sort out not one space but two, maybe even three with that approach — it gets boring fast and has no effect, with a mass of lost information and time.
The key thing: you shouldn’t have to think about where you temporarily saved it; you should definitely know the place and easily find it using search.
The most important thing — don’t hoard knowledge, but turn it into action
Keep going?