I Ditched the PARA Method: Here's the Simpler System I Use Now

For years, I was a productivity gospel singer, and my hymnbook was the PARA method. Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives—it sounded so clean, so logical. I spent countless hours meticulously organizing my notes, my files, and my entire digital life into these four tidy buckets. And for a while, it worked. But honestly, over time, I started to feel like I was spending more time managing the system than actually getting work done.

The pristine structure started to feel like a cage. Was my ongoing fitness goal a \'Project\' or an \'Area\'? Was an interesting article a \'Resource\' for a specific project or for a general area of interest? I found myself hesitating, creating duplicates, and feeling a low-grade anxiety that I was \'doing it wrong\'. That friction, that tiny moment of doubt every time I saved a file, began to add up. My \'second brain\' was starting to give me a headache.

The problem with PARA, for me

The core issue I ran into wasn\'t with the PARA method itself—it\'s a brilliant framework for many. The problem was the mismatch with how my brain works. I don\'t think in perfectly defined, separate containers. My work is fluid. A project bleeds into an area of responsibility which pulls from a resource that later becomes an archived idea. The strict separation that was meant to create clarity instead created cognitive overhead.

I realized I was archiving things I might need soon, just to keep the \'Projects\' folder clean. My \'Areas\' folder became a sprawling jungle of good intentions. The system designed to boost my productivity was slowly, subtly, becoming a source of procrastination.

The \'aha\' moment: Shifting from structure to actionability

My breakthrough came when I asked myself a simple question: What do I need to do *right now*? The answer was never \'organize my Resources folder\'. The answer was always tied to an active task. I realized I didn\'t need a librarian\'s filing system; I needed a chef\'s mise en place—a system that puts the ingredients for my immediate work right at my fingertips.

I decided to burn it all down. Metaphorically, of course. I archived everything and started over with a new philosophy, one built not on categories, but on urgency and relevance. This led me to a much simpler, three-part framework I now use.

My new system: The \'Now, Next, Later\' framework

Instead of PARA, I now think in terms of time and action. My entire digital world is organized into just three folders or tags.

• Now: This is my active workbench. It contains only the files, notes, and tasks for projects I am working on *this week*. It\'s intentionally small, focused, and high-touch. At the end of the week, I clear it out.
• Next: This is my reference library for ongoing responsibilities and interests. It\'s similar to PARA\'s \'Areas\' and \'Resources\' but combined into one. It holds things I need to refer to regularly but am not actively working on. This could be anything from company-wide goals to notes on a hobby.
• Later: This is my cold storage. It\'s the archive. Once a \'Now\' project is complete, it moves here. If a \'Next\' area becomes irrelevant, it moves here. I rarely look in here, but I know it\'s safe and searchable if I ever need it.

How this simplified my digital life

The effect was immediate. My anxiety vanished. I no longer waste energy deciding where something goes. Is it something I\'m actively working on this week? It goes in \'Now\'. Is it something I need to keep handy for reference? It goes in \'Next\'. Is it done or no longer relevant? It goes in \'Later\'. That\'s it.

This system forces me to be honest about my priorities. The small size of the \'Now\' folder means I can\'t fool myself into thinking I\'m working on twenty projects at once. It has brought a sense of calm and focus that, ironically, the more complex PARA system never quite delivered for me. It’s a reminder that the best productivity system isn\'t the one you read about; it\'s the one you actually use without thinking about it.