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| 1 | += P.A.R.A. Method |
| 2 | +:categories: documentation |
| 3 | +:roles: software-developer, team-lead, technical-writer, educator |
| 4 | +:related: diataxis-framework, todotxt-flavoured-markdown |
| 5 | +:proponents: Tiago Forte |
| 6 | +:tags: knowledge-management, personal-productivity, note-taking, organization, second-brain |
| 7 | +:tier: 3 |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +[%collapsible] |
| 10 | +==== |
| 11 | +Full Name:: P.A.R.A. Method (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive) |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +Also known as:: PARA Framework, Second Brain Organization System |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +[discrete] |
| 16 | +== *Core Concepts*: |
| 17 | + |
| 18 | +Projects:: Short-term efforts with a specific goal and deadline (e.g., "Launch website", "Write article") |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +Areas:: Long-term responsibilities with a standard to maintain over time (e.g., "Health", "Finances", "Team Management") |
| 21 | + |
| 22 | +Resources:: Topics of ongoing interest or future relevance without a current action (e.g., "Machine Learning", "Design Patterns") |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +Archive:: Inactive items from the other three categories — completed projects, dropped areas, or obsolete resources |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +Actionability principle:: Items are organized by how actionable they are, not by topic or type |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +Tool-agnostic:: Applicable to any note-taking or file management system (Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research, plain folders) |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +Single source of truth:: Each piece of information belongs in exactly one of the four categories |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | +Key Proponent:: Tiago Forte ("Building a Second Brain") |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +[discrete] |
| 35 | +== *When to Use*: |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +* Organizing notes, documents, or files across tools |
| 38 | +* Managing knowledge work with multiple concurrent projects |
| 39 | +* Setting up a "Second Brain" personal knowledge management system |
| 40 | +* Reducing time spent searching for information |
| 41 | +* Separating actionable work from reference material |
| 42 | +* Onboarding teams to a shared information architecture |
| 43 | +* Structuring documentation repositories or wikis |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +[discrete] |
| 46 | +== *Related Anchors*: |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +* <<diataxis-framework,Diátaxis Framework>> |
| 49 | +* <<todotxt-flavoured-markdown,todo.txt-flavoured Markdown>> |
| 50 | +==== |
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