What is P.A.R.A#
The author of the P.A.R.A knowledge management method is Tiago Forte, one of the world's most famous productivity experts.
P.A.R.A stands for:
- Project: A collection of tasks with deadlines and clear objectives, which is the smallest unit of execution.
- Area: A space for things that need to be maintained in the long term.
- Resource: Topics or issues of sustained interest, which also serve as external knowledge reserves for Area.
- Archive: Items that are no longer active in the other three categories but may be useful in the future.
For more information about the P.A.R.A method, you can read the article The PARA Method. Here, I will mainly introduce the architecture I have implemented based on this system and its application in Notion.
Design#
Area#
Area is a collection of things that interest you and is an important part of the knowledge base and management system.
You can refer to the Library Classification System and Academic Field Outline for different subject classifications. You can search for categories and their subcategories that interest you and add levels as needed. I have divided them into three levels, such as Computer Science → Language → Node.
Area includes almost all resources, as well as some projects.
Project#
In the original design, projects were meant to manage resources from different dimensions than areas. Projects and areas should not be associated because the resources managed by projects will ultimately be reflected in areas, and projects are only temporary. However, since Notion's database functionality is very powerful, it is not difficult to add a field. I still hope to associate some projects with areas. I have divided projects into two categories: those belonging to areas and those not belonging to any areas. This way, projects belonging to areas can be further broken down for that specific area, gradually approaching the process of realizing one's passion. At the same time, projects that do not belong to areas, such as travel and weddings, can also maintain a certain degree of freedom.
Resource#
The concept of resources is simple, but the design is complex because there are many types of resources, such as links, flashes of inspiration, articles, notes, and media libraries. Therefore, there can be different implementation methods, such as using a card box method, but it is difficult to maintain in the long run. Additionally, the design of different types of resource fields is also different, which can be cumbersome when applying templates. Therefore, I decided to design different templates and management methods for different types of resources. Currently, they are divided into four sub-modules: Task, Flash, Note, Art. Adjustments can be made based on usage habits in the future.
Archive#
I have made some changes to this concept and divided the archive into views based on years, quarters, months, or even iterations. In the future, Gantt charts or statistical tables can be added to different views based on different periods. It is very flexible.
Areas, as things that are maintained in the long term, are not displayed in the archive.
The association is as follows:
Implementation#
-
First, create a new page and add Archive and Resource as sub-pages, as well as Project and Area as
Full Page Databases.
Similarly, add Year View, Month View, etc. as full page databases in the Archive page. Add Task, Flash, etc. as full page databases in the Resource page.
Directory Structure#
| Main Module | Sub-Module | Description | Main Fields |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archive | Archive | ||
| Month | Month View | Progress, Belongs to Year, Belongs to Season | |
| Season | Season View | Progress, Belongs to Year, Contains Months | |
| Year | Year View | Progress, Contains Seasons, Contains Months | |
| Area | Area | Sub-Area | |
| Project | Project | Status, Start Date, End Date, Creation Date, Contains Tasks | |
| Resource | Resource | ||
| Task | Task | Belongs to Area, Belongs to Project, Contains Sub-Tasks | |
| Flash | Flash | Belongs to Area, Belongs to Project | |
| Note | Note | Belongs to Area, Belongs to Project | |
| Art | Media Library | Belongs to Area, Author, Start Date, End Date, Review, etc. |
Page Display#
-
Archive - Month
Use inline databases and filter data created within the period.
-
Area
Use sub-projects to create hierarchy.
-
Project
Use linked content fields to display contained tasks, etc.
- Resource - Task
Optimization for Faster Speed in China#
Refer to the project Notion-faster (notionfaster.org). It has been tested on iOS and has proven to be effective. I have also made a donation.
Other#
I haven't been using Notion for long, and there are still many areas for improvement in this solution. It will continue to evolve in the future and does not represent the final result.