What if there was a better way than PARA?

I have a confession to make: I tried the PARA method, and for a while, I was a true believer. The idea of a universal system for organizing my entire digital life—Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives—felt like the key to unlocking a new level of productivity. It promised clarity. It promised control. But honestly, after months of diligent filing, I felt more like a digital janitor than a creative professional.

I was spending an incredible amount of time just shuffling notes. Was this new idea part of a \'Project\' or an \'Area\'? Is this article a \'Resource\' for a current project or a future one? The cognitive load of simply managing the system started to outweigh the benefits. My \'second brain\' was becoming a source of anxiety. I often wonder if the quest for the perfect organizational system is actually a very clever form of procrastination.

The hidden cost of perfect categorization

The biggest problem I faced wasn\'t the system itself—it\'s brilliant in theory. The problem was the friction it created. Every time I had a fleeting idea, a tiny voice in my head would ask, \"Okay, where does this go?\" Sometimes, the idea would vanish before I could even decide. I realized I was optimizing for organization, not for action or creativity. The goal isn\'t to have the most beautifully organized library of notes; the goal is to think better and get things done.

My \'aha\' moment came when I was looking for a specific note I knew I had written. I couldn\'t remember if I had filed it under a project or a resource area. After five minutes of frustrated clicking, I gave up and just used the search function. It found the note in two seconds. That’s when it hit me: I was building a complex hierarchy for a problem that modern search technology had already solved.

My shift to a context-driven system

So, I abandoned PARA. It felt like a sacrilege at first, but the relief was immediate. I scrapped the four folders and replaced them with a much simpler, two-part approach that I now think of as \'Now & Not Now\'.

1. The \'Now\' space

This is my active workbench. It\'s a single space containing only the notes, documents, and resources related to the 3-5 projects I am actively working on *this week*. It\'s intentionally small and highly focused. Everything in here is relevant and demands my immediate attention. There\'s no confusion, no deep hierarchy. It’s all about a short, actionable list.

2. The \'Not Now\' archive

This is everything else. It\'s my archive, my library, my resource pile—all rolled into one. I don\'t categorize it. I don\'t organize it. I just dump everything in there: old project notes, interesting articles, random ideas. Why? Because I trust my search tool to find what I need when I need it. I use descriptive titles and occasionally a tag, but I spend zero time on structural organization.

Why this \'messy\' method works for me

This radically simpler system has been a game-changer. The friction is gone. Capturing an idea is now effortless because I don\'t have to decide its final resting place. I just put it in the \'Not Now\' pile and trust I\'ll find it later. This has freed up immense mental energy to focus on the actual work in my \'Now\' space. PARA isn\'t a bad system, but it wasn\'t the right system for me. And perhaps, if you\'re feeling the strain of digital housekeeping, a simpler, search-first approach might be the better way for you, too.