Enhancing the PARA Method: Adding Structure & Clarity to Projects

It’s been almost a year since I started using the PARA method to organize and access both personal and work-related notes. If you’re unfamiliar with PARA, you can get a quick tutorial here.

While I could dive into the benefits of this method and how I’ve integrated it, I’ll save that for another article. Instead, let’s dive into a challenge I faced with PARA and my solution.

I’ve always viewed PARA not only as a note classification system but as a mindset. It teaches you to take effective notes, format them accessibly, and retrieve them promptly. However, my main hurdle emerged when the PARA method ended and the work on an actual project started.

I had all these previously well-organized and categorized notes, moved to a pristine folder under my Projects category. But then, I ended up with a mess of notes within the project’s folder, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed. To maintain my sanity, I felt the need to introduce clarity and a holistic perspective to my project. Nested folders were out of the question, because that is the place where notes go to be forgotten.

So, here’s the strategy I adopted: Firstly, I began treating a project’s folder as the project’s Inbox. It would house notes pulled from various areas and resources. Then, I’d generate up to five new notes and pin them to the top of that project’s folder, and I would do this for each new project that I’m working on.

By the way, you don’t need to generate all five notes from the get-go. Start with what you need; some projects might need just two notes, while others might require all five. But from my experience, a project will always have at least one.

With that clarified, here are the notes that I would create in the project’s folder:

• 📝 Scratchpad
• ✅ Tasks
• 🤔 Clarifications
• 📌 Memos
• 🧭 Milestones

The titles are quite self-explanatory, but let me provide some insights on their purpose.

📝 Scratchpad

This note is designed to capture fleeting thoughts, scribbles, and task drafts. It acts as your project’s scratchpad. Whenever I revisit a project, I start here and aim to leave this note empty by the end.

✅ Tasks

Every project has associated tasks. While I employ a task manager, juggling information across multiple platforms shatters the big picture. Also, when I work on a project, the last things I need are distractions and jumping through apps.

So, I will instead list all tasks in this note. Essential tasks with set deadlines get duplicated in my task manager app.

For those wondering on how I decide when to work on non-urgent tasks, that were not added to my task manager app, I either set a generalized task like “Work on [Project Name]” or allocate a calendar slot. On the chosen day, I clear the “Quick notes” and find tasks in the “Tasks” note.

By the way, I never delete completed items from the “Tasks” note. I will cross them off, sure, but I keep them in the note, as they will help me retrace my steps later, or I will use them for reference when building a new tasks list for a new project.

🤔 Clarifications

When working on a project, there are often points needing further clarity or discussion. I document them here, ensuring I address them in team meetings or guide my solo research.

📌 Memos

This was actually the second note that I came up with (after “Quick notes”). The need for “Memos” arose when I was working on projects and there was always something that I needed to keep in the back of my head. This was mainly non-actionable context or information important to a project. For example: Remember that this colleague will be on a vacation during these dates, or Don’t forget that we’ve decided to split this project in two phases, and so on.

Basically, if there’s anything that I need to remember, it will go in this note.

Another use of “Memos” is to store improtant project resources, but I did not want to rename it into “Resources” so that it doesn’t conflict with PARA’s resources folder. For example it can be a link to a collaborative document, or to another note with important research insights, or to a folder with mockups that we’re working with.

Maybe the second use of “Memos” deserves a note of its own, say “Index”? Suggestions are welcome!

🧭 Milestones

Completing a project demands a strategy and that you always know where you’re at with a project, what has been done so far, and how long is the road ahead, and so on.

In simpler words, this note helps track milestones. For example: Describe product requirements, Design product, Test the product, Ship the product to the client by Jan ’24.

As you can noticed, it may look like a tasks list, but not quite, because you can easily break any milestone on this list into multiple actionable tasks.

Each milestone, while appearing task-like, can be decomposed into multiple actionable tasks that you would further track and cross of in your “Tasks” note.

So far, these project notes have added some clarity to my work and hopefully this method will turn out to be a fitting solution for your cluttered project folder.

I’m eager to hear your thoughts on these adjustments to the PARA method. Have you tried something similar, or do you have your own unique strategies?