# PARA method

> An information management framework devised by Tiago Forte. Its distinctive feature is classification by actionability rather than by topic.

An information management framework devised by <Tiago Forte>. Its distinctive feature is classification by actionability rather than by topic.

## Project, Area, Resource, Archive

PARA stands for the following four categories, ordered from most to least actionable:

- **Project**: A short-term task with a clear goal, outcome, deadline, and so on. Gather the information needed for each project in one place. Examples: "Organize my thoughts on X and publish an article," "Make project Y open source."
- **Area**: An ongoing activity or responsibility. Examples: "Product management," "Health management." Many projects arise from these. For example, the Area "Health management" might generate the Project "Lose 3kg by October."
- **Resource**: All topics that do not belong to a specific Project or Area. Serves as a personal library.
- **Archive**: Long-term storage for completed Projects, Areas that are no longer major activities or responsibilities, Resources that no longer match current interests, and so on.

## Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths:

- Designed with action in mind
- Simple enough to apply immediately
- Encourages ongoing review ([Values in the process](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Values%20in%20the%20process.txt))

Weaknesses:

- Little specific guidance on managing information within each category. Many people seem to create deep tree structures within them. But [information structures are not trees](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/It%20is%20not%20a%20tree.txt).
- The boundaries between Project and Area, and between Area and Resource, are ambiguous.
- Questions about hierarchy, such as "Shouldn't Resources belong inside each Area?"

The weaknesses mostly seem to be variations on the [tyranny of the dominant decomposition](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Tyranny%20of%20the%20dominant%20decomposition.txt). PARA's single concern, "actionability," acts as the dominant decomposition.