Have you heard of the P.A.R.A. method? It stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives and it answers directly a simple but important question "Where?". Where should I store this piece of information? The question that we usually either ignore or answer incorrectly. As a result, our digital life is chaos, just like our analogue life. With P.A.R.A. our digital life transforms from chaos into 4 small chaoses. Is this even a word? It should be, because it certainly can be a reality.
What P.A.R.A. stands for
Project: Short-term information related to a specific purpose with a deadline. For example, a living room renovation or a university assignment.
Area: Constant concepts that consume your life and never seem to end. Your fitness, your job, your finances, your hobbies.
Resources: Information on topics you might want to reference in the future. Or, in other words, things you think you should save for later but will never read. Like that article you bookmarked yesterday while in the bathroom.
Archive: Throw in here anything that is no longer active from the previous 3 categories. A completed project, dreams that never came true, photos of your ex. Although these you'd better delete completely.
As timeless as it seems, the P.A.R.A. method can become too rigid as you evolve away from your traditional file system or your cloud drive. Using a folder for each of the four pillars is a logical way to break down your knowledge but is it enough? Is this the end game?
In Numenon we don't do folders and we don't do hierarchy. But we can do the P.A.R.A method and potentially combine it with some of our concepts. Please those who enjoy the rigid and liberate those who pursue freedom.
Check how you can do this in our dedicated documentation page.