读完 The PARA Method,我本来打算将这些摘抄出来的想法写成博客,最后,我在博客里写了更想说的话,那么,摘抄就放这里吧。
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This is what it means to “organize for action,” a mantra I will return to throughout this book.
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Projects are “short-term efforts,” which means they need a clear end date.
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This experience led me to form a new rule: never create an empty folder (or tag, or directory, or other container) before you have something to put in it.
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You’ll likely be retrieving information using the search function most of the time, which means placing items into specific subfolders is a nice-to-have, not a must-have.
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Projects: A Goal with a Deadline.My definition of a project is any endeavor that has:
- A goal that will enable you to mark it “complete”
- A deadline or timeframe by which you’d like it done
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Areas of Responsibility: A Standard to Maintain over Time While projects are important, not everything is a project.There are facets of your work and life that don’t have a clear end goal or deadline. We call them “areas of responsibility.”An area of responsibility has:
- A standard to be maintained
- An indefinite end date
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Think of projects as sprints—you are sprinting to reach the finish line as fast as possible. Areas are like marathons—you have to sustain a consistent level of performance over a long distance.
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The key here is to realize that there is a big difference between things you are directly responsible for and things you are merely interested in. I use uppercase titles for areas and lowercase titles for resources to constantly remind myself that one is more important than the other.
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At this point some people will wonder, “Do I really have to create corresponding, identical folders on all platforms?”And the answer is: Absolutely not!
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First, you should create a folder on any platform only when you have something to put in it. Otherwise, you’ll just end up creating a maze of empty folders that clutter your workspace while leading nowhere. It takes mere seconds to create a new folder anyway, so you should do so only if and when it’s needed.
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The only action I recommend avoiding at all costs is duplication: you never want to have two versions of a file or document, because then you never know which one is the most current.
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The most actionable category of “Projects” is closely guarded against distractions from other kinds of information that seem interesting but aren’t useful.
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Whether you are trying to reach the finish line of a challenging project or striving to elevate your standards in an area of life, always begin with the end in mind and work backward to decide only which information you’ll need to get there, and push everything else aside.
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This rule recognizes that imposing order on information doesn’t always make it more valuable. You heard that right: sometimes organizing information too much makes it less valuable.The greatest breakthroughs often come from unexpected connections between ideas, and if your system is too rigidly formal, you’ll prevent such connections from ever forming. Allowing some messiness and randomness into the system creates opportunities for very different ideas to be connected and intermixed.
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Value doesn’t come from the inputs; it comes from your outputs, bearing your signature and style.
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By separating out the information in your life according to when it will be needed, PARA gives you a sense of perspective appropriate to whichever time horizon is calling for your attention. It allows you to work simultaneously across different timescales to bring into existence the future you’re trying to create.
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Some weeks I’m too busy to individually move each item from the inbox into the right folders, so I just “select all” and dump them anywhere. Again, search is the magic solution to finding things even if they haven’t been perfectly classified and labeled.
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Often as people begin working with PARA they realize that they already have more than enough knowledge to pursue the goal they’ve been dreaming of.When you see all the valuable raw material you’ve already collected, whether from your own experience or the experiences of others, all in one place, you can’t help but conclude that you’re ready.
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The promise of PARA is that it makes “getting organized” a straightforward affair to get over with as quickly as possible. It is a way to step out from behind your computer screen and out into the world where all the possibilities reside. It is a way to tap into the sources of power available all around you so you can fulfill the purpose you were put on this planet for.