Got the audiobook a while back, good stuff, this helps fill in the bigger picture. Q? Where do you put the "future projects"? Is that a sub-folder under projects?
@@smetlogik Good question! Had the same question on my end when I was taking notes and following this process. I created a resource folder within my PARA folders called "future projects" and had some project idea notes compiled already that I dropped in there. Then I took the future project ideas from creating the list and compiled them all into one note for use later.
@@JoeCastellon Personally, I had more success with reading and diving into The PARA Method first then BASB. Love them both. Highly recommend them, the lessons, action steps, stories and frameworks have been a huge game changer in my personal and professional life.
When I started this video, I thought, "I'm retired, I don't have any projects." Before I got to the 3 minute mark, I had listed half a dozen that weren't really on my radar, but should be.
Summary 0:00 Intro 00:39 Recap - what are projects? • Have goals • Have an end Examples: Finishing an essay by next Thursday, going on vacation to ___ by the end of this year, etc. 1:20 Brainstorm your list • 1:30 Writing down everything you’re working on right now • 1:41 Top of mind projects • 2:40 Check your email • 3:24 Check your calendar and to-do list apps 5:26 Follow the 10 to 15 rule • 5:37 Keep within 10 to 15 projects • 5:42 Make significant, visible progress • 6:30 Never get stuck on a project; have another project readily available, which you can seamlessly switch to whenever you get stalled out 6:58 Identify false projects and remove from your list • 7:12 Dreams - projects with no deadline • 7:18 Hobbies - projects with no specific goal or timeline • 7:23 Areas - ongoing areas of responsibility that don’t really end but you need to support and develop over time (health, family, finances, career) • 9:09 Megaprojects - a collection of sub-projects (writing Building a Second Brain book) 11:00 More than 15 projects? • 11:02 Move the least urgent to a ‘Future projects’ note • 11:15 Say ‘no’ or renegotiate the scope of your commitments
It is confusing, what is the difference between a task that belongs to a project and a subproject that belongs to a project... or is a subproject a task that contains more tasks so better call it a subproject? hmm.... what is the difference then between a subtask and a subproject...
I struggle to distinct the difference between the project and daily/weekly todo list. I see that you added some projects from your todo list but how do you tell the difference?
After looking at the video twice, I realized that as you look at Tiago’s project list around the 10:50 mark all projects start with a verb 🤯 To me that was a great way to identify mega projects and areas on my list
One of my favorite professors in Korea strongly recommended your book on his UA-cam channel. He is a professor of record. I started reading without any doubt thanks to him. The changes that have happened to me in just the last few days are amazing. I was inspired by your book, and thanks to your practice video on UA-cam like this, my Notion was reborn. I was scared to have a PARA system to begin with, but I was encouraged to start with the ‘project’ and implemented it right away. I feel like my head and daily life are neatly organized. I felt like I was busy and left behind every day under pressure from the things I always had to do, but now I can focus on what I need most now. I'm so grateful. And your English is easy to understand. Thank you so much :)
Two questions, 1. Do the dreams and other things you marked off go into either areas or resources? 2. Does a future project go into a sub folder of projects or areas?
I like making 2 sub-folders inside the "Projects" folder. One called "On Hold" for stuff I definitely want to do in the future, but haven't activated yet. I review it every week. I also have a "Someday" subfolder where I keep lists of Things that I might do or might not do. I check it every month.
Thank you for the walkthrough! I’ve read your book multiple times in 2022 and I still find myself stuck with the workflow. These types of videos really help. 🙏
This is such a helpful guide! I had my PhD dissertation down as a project, but now I can see that it's really a mega-project that needs to be broken down. (P.S. I'm linking this video to my Second Brain as a reminder!)❤
hi @chloe_steward I’m planning to writing my bachelor thesis and am more intimidadet by the scope by the second 😅 I know my research area, but not yet my research question - how would you say the references and studies you find fit into the system when you want to reference them for possible later citations but you’re not sure yet on which topic in the paper? I mean I use a citation program of course, but sometimes you stumble over a paper and you know you want to keep it and it’s insight, but you don’t yet know for which area of your future research specifically?
Super useful! I recommend watching this video while doing the excercises with Tiago. Grab pen and paper and START. Pause the video as many times as you need to allow you to think. You'll finish the video with your projects list ready 💪
This method is simply amazing and moves me so much that it takes me to the next step, which is learning to put all the ideas into practice. That's why I'm reading the book How to Build a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. Obrigado Tiago!
Well, I'm convinced to move over to PARA! I thought I had a fool-proof file tree and system but the truth is, it's really important to have active projects in one place. However, for those of doing coding, where it's important to set and keep certain file directories (otherwise you'll have to rewrite them each time in your scripts), how do you deal with that in PARA?
The 10-15 rule would be a good way to put structured thought around the question "Can I take on this new project?" If taking on another project puts you above 15, then maybe it's time to say no to a great opportunity.
Excellent video. Can you also do a video on folders and files for gdrive, onedrive, dropbox etc? There is everything from evernote to apple notes to gmail productivity on your videos but nothing on how documents and files are structured in PARA? How many subfolders (what are too many?) do you usually recommend for instance for financial documents? Thank you.
Great video Tiago! Maybe I missed it but how would you set up your PARA Model for both the private and business side of your Life? Mix both or seperate each?
Hey Thomas! I'd say that it's personal preference and depends on circumstance. For a free lancer or someone who is self employed, they might want to view all their work and personal projects in one place, since they can choose their own schedule. On the other hand if you're someone who works a 9 to 5 and likes to keep their work and life separate, you might want to separate the projects into "work projects" and "personal projects"
Hi Tiago, thank you very much for the walk through, I am convinced to take over PARA into my system. One question though, how do you distinguish between a project and a to-do which contains multiple sub-steps? As they all have clear goals and defined time frame? Thank you in ahead for answering.
This is why it's always a good idea for writers to have multiple projects on the go, at the same time, for when they inevitably become blocked on their current project.
After completing the identifying megaprojects, what if you no longer have 10 projects? In my first brainstorming, I ended up with 5 clearly defined, short-term projects.
Guys, I am confused about having multiple Apps. Tiago has apple notes, Evernote and notion? And he keeps both prof & personal together? So how are they different? He keeps them all and replicates the, manually?
My question now is... where do megaprojects actually go? I know now to make clearly defined short term projects, but I don't want to just replace my current megaproject with one; I need to keep the "full" project somewhere and I'm still not sure where that should be. What led me to this question: This was really helpful with figuring out the following: If doing something with a currently indefinite timeframe, and that's not a clearly small & definable, counts as a project or area. For example, I am currently intentionally making time for learning "Video Editing" & related skills. It will have an end... but I have no idea what that is right now, and it may take a long time (months-years). Your example of "writing a book", how that's not really a project in itself, answered my question; now I know it's a megaproject.
I have the same question. I have clearly defined Area's and Projects but have a hard time knowing where to put my mega projects. They aren't an ongoing area in my life, but a large project with a 6 month to 12 month timeframe that has lots of smaller 3 to 6 week smaller projects under it. Since the mega project has a definite end, I want to put it under projects, but don't want to have projects with tons of subfolders, because that feels like it detracts from the 10 to 15 rule outlined in this video. Additional guidance on this would be phenomenal! (p.s. I have already pre-ordered the PARA book, maybe the answers will be in there? @Tiago please help. ^_^
What I do is add another layer. "How?" depends on how you currently manage projects. I have a "bigger objective" for large projects. This way, I know what I'm moving toward with every big project. Having a bigger objective for small projects is a hassle for me, so I don't do that.
@@slliner I could make subfolders under them. I have my Todoist, Outlook, Obsidian, and Computer folders set up as 1 | Projects, 2 | Areas, 3 | Resources, and 4 | Archives, to which I sort each item respectively into its own folder (e.g. syllabus updates Fa23, would be a project, Advising would be an area). Tiago talks about keeping things more "flatly" organized and not to create a ton of sub folders for individual projects/area's. I could take my mega project and create subfolders for each subproject, but am afraid of the system becoming unruly. How do you manage that?
@@AaronWainman Hmm. I see how that becomes a problem. First idea that comes to mind is bookmarking current important big projects that you have (so you bypass the 'objectives' folder). But this may become unpractical if you have lots of big projects. Another idea is tracking that separately (app like Notion, etc). This may turn into a hassle. But maybe not, as you'd only track the big projects, which take a long time to finish anyway, which means you won't do this very often. And this may be good for regular brainstorming & alignment. Don't have any other ideas, but I'll tell u what I do. I use Notion for project tracking, including tasks. On Todoist, I just have the task "Work on project X." And in Notion, I have all the tasks. Everywhere outside of Notion, I simply have all the projects in a flat hierarchy. This works great for me.
Tiago, thank you for being so helpful and I enjoy all the videos. I have two questions: 1. where is the best folder for "Mega Projects" to keep and in the future break to sub-project (if I have a good understood if I save it in Resource I must check weekly the "Area" folder and is it possible to forget the Mega project?) and 2. when each sub-project done, in "Archive" folder need a separate folder with name as Mega project's name for archiving?
I wouldn't even recommend spending time thinking about mega-projects. Just focus on the next milestone you can control and focus on. Once that's complete, you can think about what comes next
I have read your BASB book. Your C.O.D.E method are changing my life! Thank you very much. I am interest with your P.A.R.A method book, can you sell it to Indonesia (Indonesian language version)? I can not wait to buy your book. Thank you.
Not sure if you’ll see this, Tiago, but this is a passage from the book “The Science of Storytelling” “The psychologist Professor Brian Little has spent decades studying the goals that humans pursue in their everyday lives. He finds we have an average of fifteen ‘personal projects’ going at once, a mixture of ‘trivial pursuits and magnificent obsessions’. These projects are so central to our identity that Little likes to tell his students, ‘We are our personal projects.’ His studies have found that, in order to bring us happiness, a project should be personally meaningful and we ought to have some level of control over it. When I asked him if a person pursuing one of these ‘core’ projects was a bit like an archetypal hero battling through a three-act narrative of crisis-struggle-resolution he said, ‘Yes. A thousand times yes.’”
I would personally refer to your PARA method as the PARC method. Here, "C" represents either "Collection" or "Cache." This differentiation helps to distinguish it from the initial "A".
As a recent graduated from master's degree, I had written 16 tasks for myself but after identifying false projects, I reached to 4 tasks. I don't know where I'm wrong or had I chosen right tasks or not. Whom is 10-to-15 rule good for? Should I skip to PARA method? Or it's soon for me? (I understand that you need to know about my tasks to answer better.)
This is great! But quick question - how do you address having multiple different "realms" of which PARAs fall? In other words, I have personal endeavors, side-hustle endeavors that I own, and then job related endeavors as an employee; how do you keep these separate (both from clarity of mind and also legally to not intermix primary employer work with individual work)? Do you have a different email account associated for each perhaps, or a different laptop/device for each? The intermingling of personal development, work related, side hustle concepts, etc... over notebooks, cloud applications, electronic documents, etc... makes tracking everything and deciding where to place something very difficult - I think establishing how to distinctly separate these will make for more productive use of the PARA system so it can be implemented for each one.
Yup, there are many scenarios where you'll want some separation. I like combining everything together in one place, but you could have one PARA on your work computer for work content, and another on your personal computer for personal content. PARA can be multiplied across any number of platforms you need
Would maintaining a blog site be considered a Project or an Area? I want to say area since it doesn't really end. There would be blog posts made for the site which are definitely projects. So that's my question.
1. Practicing Piano i can move it to RESOURCE right as I can take notes on Cords, history, scales if I can take notes I can have separately. 2. Writing a book itself I can manage it as a separate PARA Vault I may need some pre created REsources from old to this PARA
You covered having over the 10-15 and how to deal with that, but what if you are under (I'm currently in the correct range, but what's the best approach if I drop under it in the future)?
To me, writing a book is similar to building a house, so why not consider it as a project ? What is the time duration for something to be considered as project
It seems you use a slightly different approach for projects and have them in your notes app? Do you not use a project manager for projects like Asana or Coda, Notion etc. to track the progress of projects (e.g. in a Kanban board)?
As a Project Manager , I’m struggling with your framework here. Projects rarely have “sub projects”. A Project is divide by task, sub task and milestone completions.
Really, 15 projects max active projects?! Maybe that's why I'm constantly feeling overwhelmed and failing a lot and letting people and employees down all the time.
@TiagoForte I feel like steps two and three should be swapped in this video. Seems like one must weed out False Projects before whittling the list down to the 10-15 rule. Also, you mention "Mega Projects" - how do you sort and track those? Do you keep a master list of Mega Projects and refer to it as you complete "mini projects"?
About 11:32 in, you use the word 'monumentous' when you meant 'monumental', or perhaps 'momentous'. Yes, I am *the* editor ;-) Personally, I believe that, if you're propounding on a topic of such precision, you really should get it things like that right. A bell should go off in your head when you're not sure of a definition, or other fact, and you should check. By the way, I'm very impressed with your stuff here. I've been working on, and with organizational methods for more than 40 years, and your ideas seem really great for most people starting to look for some system.
I think that what you are calling projects are milestones... I realize that is a bit complex to explain in a short video, but might be good to include in your book.
Really nice content. I like the structure with which you deliver the message. For me, the video style is over the top. Essentially by adding the multiple cameras, you are trying too hard. It makes it more difficult to watch compared to a single camera setup.
What to do, if I can't recall any project that I have, or planned? I have work to do, but it can't be a project and my hobbies or other routine stuff. :(
Awesome thank you, I regret years ago switching from Evernote. I like the system, I have tons of information, look forward to video two thanks from Vancouver Island Canada 🇨🇦
Amazing video. Just discovered you a few days ago and i'm in love with the content so far. Small question tho, this is the first time I'm hearing you mention mega projects. Would the mega project it self fit into area? Edit: For more context i'm a game developer and i have a game in the works. I've been considering this a project but now that you mentioned mega projects i'm starting to think it leans more towards that. Should i make my game an area with planned sub projects and then just pull those from there (and into projects) according to how actionable they are at the moment?
If you develop that game in your spare-time your approach may work out fine. If you are an indie dev and mostly work on that game, you may consider it a "personal program" and maintain it outside of your PARA structure.
I sometimes have trouble distinguishing projects from areas. In the case a of a class or course -- is that considered a Project because it's temporary and has an end date, or an Area because there's no real "outcome" other than finishing the course. I suppose it ultimately doesn't matter as long as everything is together, but it hurts my brain (both 1st and 2nd!) every time it comes up.
Typically, a Course or a Class is a Project - but that's assuming you're taking the course right now and have an end date + outcome in mind (e.g. finish the course). That makes it an active project. If you buy a course or class but don't have a commitment to when you'd like to complete it, just sometime in the future, it's not an active project (until that changes). So go ahead and store it either in an Area (e.g. "Self Development / Personal Dev" or "Marketing" or whatever the relevant topic is) or Resources (e.g. "Courses I've Bought") More details in The PARA Method book, but this should comment alone should help ;-)
Tiago tudo bem? Nós do Brasil já estamos com seu livro todo em português em mãos, e é muito bom! Ainda estou no meio da leitura, está Playlist do "PARA Method" conseguiria viabilizar legendas em Português? Para complementar o conteúdo do livro! Infelizmente no Brasil poucos tem acesso a aprender a lingua inglesa.
@@TiagoForte espero que consiga! No Brasil temos pouco conteúdo de qualidade sobre produtividade e menos ainda de produtores de conteúdo falando sobre seus métodos! Vai ser um sucesso.
Meus projetos parecem coisas que eu irei atingir daqui 10 ou 15 anos. Eles não seriam projetos? Seria algo maior ? ou são sim projetos de longo alcance ?
I don’t know how Tiago sets up his daily habits, but from my observation there are people who are good at consistency in their habits and others who need support. honestly, a Post-it note can work wonders for habits. Think about your life and what makes sense. For me, exercise outside is going to very hugely according to whether the temperature is 110 at midday or freezing. Being outdoors for pretty much anything is going to change when the weather hits 100 early in the day, my habit of doing grocery shopping, much less exercising outdoors, is going to be hugely different in different seasons for example. if you have a lot of kids around, that’s not when you want to schedule your meditation, most likely, unless you are an upper level guru, lol. It’s very helpful to cluster habits logically by context, a la GTD. if I’m in the bathroom, it makes a lot of sense to scrub the toilet and wipe the counters etc. and maybe do one of the weekly tasks on specified days each week when I happen to be in there. In the kitchen, same thing. putting away clean dishes if not done already usually leads the way, then there’s room for the dirty ones when I start cooking or warming something up and getting dishes dirty. While I am getting things out of the refrigerator, I’m scanning for anything that is near or after its expiration date so I can use it or lose it. I might vacuum the floor today in preparation for dust mopping tomorrow and steaming it the following day. Or do all three of those in a limited area in different places in the downstairs throughout the week. I’m trying really hard to include A digital cleanup time in my desk/office routine, but there’s a lot to do without that and it often gets overlooked. I use drop-down menus that I created in my browsers that make it simple to go through routines of checking email, checking accounts, checking text messages in apps that have desktop apps, going through the mail, I have folders labeled File, repurpose, shred in case my shredder has walked away to another room or Someone forgot to put the recycling trash can back at my desk. I have a routine for arriving home but I mostly follow. Life would be simpler if I did it all the time because then my receipts would be noted and filed for later archiving or destruction. you can create helpful routines as you physically move through your day in a way that makes sense regarding who you are with, and what is available to you in the different locations, etc. and a Post-it note is a very easy way to accomplish this. If you have 3 x 5 cards, there are a little wallets that can hold those if you want to help a portable reminder system. if you want to track them, all the habits, you can create a dashboard checklist for daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, twice a year and annual things to do.
I categorize my Projects into these Areas to Figure out where I want to spend my time 🟣STRENGTH: Power stone - Workouts & General Health 🔵PERSISTENCE Space Stone : Habits & House Maintenance 🟢EXPERIENCE Time Stone : Relationships and Fun Activities 🔴CREATIVITY ⭕CONTRIBUTION Reality Stone - Side hustle, Work, creative experession 🟠INTELLIGENCE Mind stone: Second brain/ Learning 🟡ACHIEVEMENTS Soul Stone - Project management ⚫LIFETIME Yin / Yang - Self Reflection and life Organization
Not sure about the no less than 10 number, especially as you list fatigue as one of the reasons a project might stall. If it is fatigue, moving seamlessly into another project may not be the answer. The answer may be to stop and recover. Overwhelm is dangerous and can lead to catastrophic burnout. If you only have five projects, you can focus on five, and recharge when you're not working on them. The same goes for having four, three, two or one. There is no shame in that. In fact, it may be healthier for you.
I don’t understand this: “Hobbies are projects with no specific goal” So, if I would like to learn gouache with the purpose of relaxing and decreasing my screen time. Can learning gouache be seen as a project?
Im coming from GTD perspective with single actionable events and projects. How do you treat these smaller "todos" in PARA? Is everything a project no matter what or do you place those single events somewhere else? And you won't put mega projects in to projects, so where you place the overall project container?
I came to ask a similar question, in the process of moving over a somewhat messy todo list and im "stuck" on a simple item like "make appointment for XX", which i just jotted down when it came to mind. I'd put it under the Area "Health + Fitness" (makes sense) but dont have an active project that's like "schedule all appointments". My 3 proposed solutions would be to 1) create a project called "Health and Fitness Misc" to store ongoing one-offs like "Schedule appointment" in Health and Fitness 2) Since this is coming up in multiple areas one could create just one project for one-offs called "catch-all" (or something like that) that can be a reservoir for actionable items that arent part of larger projects or 3) add another relation property to my tasks database to link a task to a specific area without tagging an ongoing project (I use Notion so this might be specfic to myself and other notion users). I think similar issues arise with things like regular maintenance of anything (giving my dog heartguard at the beginning of every month, my dog is an Area but doesnt really fit as a project). I wonder what @TiagoForte would recommend... my thinking is probably option 3 and then massaging your custom displays to show info about upcoming tasks that are tied to both tangible projects AND simple repeated tasks/simple one-offs. Curious if anyone has tried either of these with success!
hi there, I was wondering. In this part you say that the project should have a clear goal (where writing a book is too big) and that we should not have more than 15 or less than 10. In your other parts you have 19 projects (part1) and the projects you wrote down seem rather big. Also, where do you keep hold of mega projects and red thread of them?
Each part of this series was filmed at different times, so the projects you see change from one video to the next. Which is the way it should be! You want regular turnover in your projects to keep things fresh. And sometimes I have less or more of them, and they are bigger or smaller. This isn't about adopting some rigid rule, but about adapting dynamically to changing seasons
Question: I saw in your last video that you had BASB Book launch as a project with underlying documents, but here you mention that it shouldn't be a project as it is too big. You replaced it with Inc. book pre-orders. And that is where I am confused on. Let's say I am launching a new physical brand with many different projects such as launching a website. This project on its own includes several steps like finding the best domain host, designer to design the website, developer to implement the design an etc. So in PARA method, where should I define these steps, and which one goes to the project. I wanna make sure I make a note of all steps but at the same time, I tackle the first step.
The "BASB Book Launch" project refers only to the sales and promotion of the book, not anything related to writing it. Even just the promotion borders on being too big though. If I was struggling or feeling lost with it, the first thing I'd do is break it down into smaller subprojects
@@TiagoForte I understand your explanation about breaking down larger projects, such as a book launch. Now, I'm curious about how you personally manage these complex tasks. When writing a book, you must handle numerous subprojects like research, writing different chapters, and promotions. How do you first outline these processes, plan the sequence, and then initiate each mini-project? Do you use a master list to first break down these larger goals and then transfer them to the project section as you work on them?
@@mansour.norouzi For large projects with a bunch of tasks I like to take a page from GTD and create a next actions list. What is the very next thing I need to do to move this project forward, this becomes the item on your projects list.
If you have similar or grouped Projects, consider creating an Area or Resource on that topic, and feel free to move your projects over to those Areas or Resources when you complete them (instead of to Archives) In general, mega-projects are kind of an illusion. If every step (micro-project) along the way is going to reveal so much new information that it renders most of the long-term planning obsolete, it's really much better to just concentrate your energy on taking that step as effectively as possible. (I can hardly think of a long-term project that I've done besides the book.) TLDR: Most large projects shouldn't exist in favor of projects.
I have trouble distinguishing mega-projects and projects. What do you think is a good time window for a project ? For instance : I want to publish a model daily for 7 days starting next monday. Does it count as 1 or 7 ?
I would consider that as a project because it's a relatively short time frame. Each day would be a separate task you have to achieve to complete the project. You could go even further and make subtasks in your to-do list that help you make that days model. Hope that helps 😊
May I ask something: Do you have projects inside an area? For example, I work as a freelance architect (should I have an area called “my office” and have projects (my client's projects) inside? also where does go SOP's?
I am an Architect too and I struggle with this too. Each project is essentially a Megaproject with smaller subprojects in it. I have a personal projects and work projects, so I can keep them separated.
Question.. A lot of my job is doing one-off bits of analytics - someone emails me with a task, which I'll generally do in one hit & often won't have any follow-up. Where do these go ?
Make a list like of potential additional projects like demonstrated in the video - and to draw out more project ideas, try this: as you go through your day, notice what you're either already doing (that's actually a part of a project but you aren't noticing the bigger picture of) OR what you'd like to be doing right now that fits a project criteria (notice what desires resonate throughout your day) You'll find your hidden projects. Add them to your list, review, cull if needed, move forward
Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this, you might like my book, The PARA Method: www.buildingasecondbrain.com/para
Tiago, should I read BASB before I buy/read the PARA Method book?
Got the audiobook a while back, good stuff, this helps fill in the bigger picture. Q? Where do you put the "future projects"? Is that a sub-folder under projects?
@@smetlogik Good question! Had the same question on my end when I was taking notes and following this process. I created a resource folder within my PARA folders called "future projects" and had some project idea notes compiled already that I dropped in there. Then I took the future project ideas from creating the list and compiled them all into one note for use later.
@@JoeCastellon Personally, I had more success with reading and diving into The PARA Method first then BASB. Love them both. Highly recommend them, the lessons, action steps, stories and frameworks have been a huge game changer in my personal and professional life.
@@collinsdrumlab thank you for sharing that!!
I am pretty much convinced that Tiago’s Spotify playlists are named project, areas, resources and archives.
That’s a nice one 😂
I actually can see it working...
Musics for when you're doing a specific project, or when you're working out...
It’s crazy because Spotify added folders recently
@@niceastastop it 😂
Hilarious lol.
When I started this video, I thought, "I'm retired, I don't have any projects." Before I got to the 3 minute mark, I had listed half a dozen that weren't really on my radar, but should be.
Summary
0:00 Intro
00:39 Recap - what are projects?
• Have goals
• Have an end
Examples: Finishing an essay by next Thursday, going on vacation to ___ by the end of this year, etc.
1:20 Brainstorm your list
• 1:30 Writing down everything you’re working on right now
• 1:41 Top of mind projects
• 2:40 Check your email
• 3:24 Check your calendar and to-do list apps
5:26 Follow the 10 to 15 rule
• 5:37 Keep within 10 to 15 projects
• 5:42 Make significant, visible progress
• 6:30 Never get stuck on a project; have another project readily available, which you can seamlessly switch to whenever you get stalled out
6:58 Identify false projects and remove from your list
• 7:12 Dreams - projects with no deadline
• 7:18 Hobbies - projects with no specific goal or timeline
• 7:23 Areas - ongoing areas of responsibility that don’t really end but you need to support and develop over time (health, family, finances, career)
• 9:09 Megaprojects - a collection of sub-projects (writing Building a Second Brain book)
11:00 More than 15 projects?
• 11:02 Move the least urgent to a ‘Future projects’ note
• 11:15 Say ‘no’ or renegotiate the scope of your commitments
Omg appreciate this 💕🙏🏻
Thank you!
Thanks!
thankyou!
It is confusing, what is the difference between a task that belongs to a project and a subproject that belongs to a project... or is a subproject a task that contains more tasks so better call it a subproject? hmm.... what is the difference then between a subtask and a subproject...
I struggle to distinct the difference between the project and daily/weekly todo list. I see that you added some projects from your todo list but how do you tell the difference?
After looking at the video twice, I realized that as you look at Tiago’s project list around the 10:50 mark all projects start with a verb 🤯 To me that was a great way to identify mega projects and areas on my list
Great insight
One of my favorite professors in Korea strongly recommended your book on his UA-cam channel. He is a professor of record. I started reading without any doubt thanks to him. The changes that have happened to me in just the last few days are amazing. I was inspired by your book, and thanks to your practice video on UA-cam like this, my Notion was reborn. I was scared to have a PARA system to begin with, but I was encouraged to start with the ‘project’ and implemented it right away. I feel like my head and daily life are neatly organized. I felt like I was busy and left behind every day under pressure from the things I always had to do, but now I can focus on what I need most now. I'm so grateful. And your English is easy to understand. Thank you so much :)
Two questions, 1. Do the dreams and other things you marked off go into either areas or resources? 2. Does a future project go into a sub folder of projects or areas?
I'm also asking myself the same question.
I like making 2 sub-folders inside the "Projects" folder. One called "On Hold" for stuff I definitely want to do in the future, but haven't activated yet. I review it every week. I also have a "Someday" subfolder where I keep lists of Things that I might do or might not do. I check it every month.
Which software you use , notion obsidian, or offline or some other thing@@hugocast
hope thiago reply this
Thank you for the walkthrough! I’ve read your book multiple times in 2022 and I still find myself stuck with the workflow. These types of videos really help. 🙏
This is such a helpful guide! I had my PhD dissertation down as a project, but now I can see that it's really a mega-project that needs to be broken down. (P.S. I'm linking this video to my Second Brain as a reminder!)❤
hi @chloe_steward I’m planning to writing my bachelor thesis and am more intimidadet by the scope by the second 😅 I know my research area, but not yet my research question - how would you say the references and studies you find fit into the system when you want to reference them for possible later citations but you’re not sure yet on which topic in the paper? I mean I use a citation program of course, but sometimes you stumble over a paper and you know you want to keep it and it’s insight, but you don’t yet know for which area of your future research specifically?
This System will change the world
Super useful! I recommend watching this video while doing the excercises with Tiago. Grab pen and paper and START. Pause the video as many times as you need to allow you to think. You'll finish the video with your projects list ready 💪
Yes!!!
@@TiagoForte 😍😍💪 You're changing my life! Thanks 😅
Did this and it was well worth the time invested! Such an incredible video and series to go along with the book!
This method is simply amazing and moves me so much that it takes me to the next step, which is learning to put all the ideas into practice. That's why I'm reading the book How to Build a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. Obrigado Tiago!
Well, I'm convinced to move over to PARA! I thought I had a fool-proof file tree and system but the truth is, it's really important to have active projects in one place. However, for those of doing coding, where it's important to set and keep certain file directories (otherwise you'll have to rewrite them each time in your scripts), how do you deal with that in PARA?
The 10-15 rule would be a good way to put structured thought around the question "Can I take on this new project?"
If taking on another project puts you above 15, then maybe it's time to say no to a great opportunity.
Thank you, Tiago. This was very helpful for me to de-clutter my project list! I'm looking forward to the next video!
I like the PARA system but... do people actually forget spending time with their sons & daughter???
Excellent video.
Can you also do a video on folders and files for gdrive, onedrive, dropbox etc? There is everything from evernote to apple notes to gmail productivity on your videos but nothing on how documents and files are structured in PARA? How many subfolders (what are too many?) do you usually recommend for instance for financial documents? Thank you.
Brilliant. Really looking forward to your Areas video... and understanding the difference between Areas and Resources so I'm not duplicating notes...
Great video Tiago! Maybe I missed it but how would you set up your PARA Model for both the private and business side of your Life? Mix both or seperate each?
Hey Thomas! I'd say that it's personal preference and depends on circumstance. For a free lancer or someone who is self employed, they might want to view all their work and personal projects in one place, since they can choose their own schedule. On the other hand if you're someone who works a 9 to 5 and likes to keep their work and life separate, you might want to separate the projects into "work projects" and "personal projects"
What Harry said! Integrate as much as it makes sense, separate if needed
Hi Tiago, thank you very much for the walk through, I am convinced to take over PARA into my system. One question though, how do you distinguish between a project and a to-do which contains multiple sub-steps? As they all have clear goals and defined time frame? Thank you in ahead for answering.
This is why it's always a good idea for writers to have multiple projects on the go, at the same time, for when they inevitably become blocked on their current project.
Really helpful and clear explanation of the difference between projects and areas. Thanks Tiago
After completing the identifying megaprojects, what if you no longer have 10 projects? In my first brainstorming, I ended up with 5 clearly defined, short-term projects.
Then you are an unusually focused person who's good at saying no to distractions!
Loved this. Esp the way you explained what is and what isn't a project. Can't wait for my copy of the book.
Would megaprojects then be the same as goals? A project brings me closer to my goal just like to my megaproject.
Guys, I am confused about having multiple Apps. Tiago has apple notes, Evernote and notion? And he keeps both prof & personal together? So how are they different? He keeps them all and replicates the, manually?
Thank you once again, Tiago. I've been using PARA for a few years, and even still this video made me change things around.
My question now is... where do megaprojects actually go? I know now to make clearly defined short term projects, but I don't want to just replace my current megaproject with one; I need to keep the "full" project somewhere and I'm still not sure where that should be.
What led me to this question:
This was really helpful with figuring out the following: If doing something with a currently indefinite timeframe, and that's not a clearly small & definable, counts as a project or area. For example, I am currently intentionally making time for learning "Video Editing" & related skills. It will have an end... but I have no idea what that is right now, and it may take a long time (months-years). Your example of "writing a book", how that's not really a project in itself, answered my question; now I know it's a megaproject.
I have the same question. I have clearly defined Area's and Projects but have a hard time knowing where to put my mega projects. They aren't an ongoing area in my life, but a large project with a 6 month to 12 month timeframe that has lots of smaller 3 to 6 week smaller projects under it. Since the mega project has a definite end, I want to put it under projects, but don't want to have projects with tons of subfolders, because that feels like it detracts from the 10 to 15 rule outlined in this video. Additional guidance on this would be phenomenal! (p.s. I have already pre-ordered the PARA book, maybe the answers will be in there? @Tiago please help. ^_^
Same question here
What I do is add another layer. "How?" depends on how you currently manage projects.
I have a "bigger objective" for large projects. This way, I know what I'm moving toward with every big project.
Having a bigger objective for small projects is a hassle for me, so I don't do that.
@@slliner I could make subfolders under them. I have my Todoist, Outlook, Obsidian, and Computer folders set up as 1 | Projects, 2 | Areas, 3 | Resources, and 4 | Archives, to which I sort each item respectively into its own folder (e.g. syllabus updates Fa23, would be a project, Advising would be an area). Tiago talks about keeping things more "flatly" organized and not to create a ton of sub folders for individual projects/area's. I could take my mega project and create subfolders for each subproject, but am afraid of the system becoming unruly.
How do you manage that?
@@AaronWainman Hmm. I see how that becomes a problem.
First idea that comes to mind is bookmarking current important big projects that you have (so you bypass the 'objectives' folder). But this may become unpractical if you have lots of big projects.
Another idea is tracking that separately (app like Notion, etc). This may turn into a hassle. But maybe not, as you'd only track the big projects, which take a long time to finish anyway, which means you won't do this very often. And this may be good for regular brainstorming & alignment.
Don't have any other ideas, but I'll tell u what I do. I use Notion for project tracking, including tasks. On Todoist, I just have the task "Work on project X." And in Notion, I have all the tasks.
Everywhere outside of Notion, I simply have all the projects in a flat hierarchy.
This works great for me.
Tiago, thank you for being so helpful and I enjoy all the videos. I have two questions: 1. where is the best folder for "Mega Projects" to keep and in the future break to sub-project (if I have a good understood if I save it in Resource I must check weekly the "Area" folder and is it possible to forget the Mega project?) and 2. when each sub-project done, in "Archive" folder need a separate folder with name as Mega project's name for archiving?
I wouldn't even recommend spending time thinking about mega-projects. Just focus on the next milestone you can control and focus on. Once that's complete, you can think about what comes next
❤@@TiagoForte
❤ from 🇮🇳🎉. I wish I had known this before 5 years.
You are amazing, i have been following you for a while and your PARA method changed my life
I have read your BASB book. Your C.O.D.E method are changing my life! Thank you very much. I am interest with your P.A.R.A method book, can you sell it to Indonesia (Indonesian language version)? I can not wait to buy your book. Thank you.
Not sure if you’ll see this, Tiago, but this is a passage from the book “The Science of Storytelling”
“The psychologist Professor Brian Little has spent decades studying the goals that humans pursue in their everyday lives. He finds we have an average of fifteen ‘personal projects’ going at once, a mixture of ‘trivial pursuits and magnificent obsessions’. These projects are so central to our identity that Little likes to tell his students, ‘We are our personal projects.’ His studies have found that, in order to bring us happiness, a project should be personally meaningful and we ought to have some level of control over it. When I asked him if a person pursuing one of these ‘core’ projects was a bit like an archetypal hero battling through a three-act narrative of crisis-struggle-resolution he said, ‘Yes. A thousand times yes.’”
Really? That’s amazing. I’ll look into it as I’d love that confirmation
@@TiagoFortechapter 4.0, my kindle says page 187. Glad I can add an intermediate packet for ya ;)
I would personally refer to your PARA method as the PARC method. Here, "C" represents either "Collection" or "Cache." This differentiation helps to distinguish it from the initial "A".
Yes and when you reverse the order from Least actionable to most, it will spell "CRAP"
@@MrSharklet😂😂😂😂😂
@@MrSharklet That's what you'll get if you flip the order of things in this scenario.
Oooh, or Complete.
As a recent graduated from master's degree, I had written 16 tasks for myself but after identifying false projects, I reached to 4 tasks. I don't know where I'm wrong or had I chosen right tasks or not.
Whom is 10-to-15 rule good for? Should I skip to PARA method? Or it's soon for me? (I understand that you need to know about my tasks to answer better.)
This is great! But quick question - how do you address having multiple different "realms" of which PARAs fall?
In other words, I have personal endeavors, side-hustle endeavors that I own, and then job related endeavors as an employee; how do you keep these separate (both from clarity of mind and also legally to not intermix primary employer work with individual work)? Do you have a different email account associated for each perhaps, or a different laptop/device for each? The intermingling of personal development, work related, side hustle concepts, etc... over notebooks, cloud applications, electronic documents, etc... makes tracking everything and deciding where to place something very difficult - I think establishing how to distinctly separate these will make for more productive use of the PARA system so it can be implemented for each one.
Yup, there are many scenarios where you'll want some separation. I like combining everything together in one place, but you could have one PARA on your work computer for work content, and another on your personal computer for personal content. PARA can be multiplied across any number of platforms you need
This seems pretty much like GTD!
You are changing peoples lives, one video at a time
Would maintaining a blog site be considered a Project or an Area? I want to say area since it doesn't really end. There would be blog posts made for the site which are definitely projects. So that's my question.
If you use the word "maintain" to describe something, that's a clear indication that it's an area.
1. Practicing Piano i can move it to RESOURCE right as I can take notes on Cords, history, scales if I can take notes I can have separately.
2. Writing a book itself I can manage it as a separate PARA Vault I may need some pre created REsources from old to this PARA
You covered having over the 10-15 and how to deal with that, but what if you are under (I'm currently in the correct range, but what's the best approach if I drop under it in the future)?
Look for a list of things to maintain and make projects for them
Then congratulate yourself on having realistic expectations on what you can handle. Most people don't
Re piano, perhaps determine to learn a particular piece as a project, while keeping piano-playing as an area.
Good idea ;)
To me, writing a book is similar to building a house, so why not consider it as a project ? What is the time duration for something to be considered as project
Anyone can tell me, is this work on the managing file in the computer folder too? Or just on note taking such as one note, etc? Thanks
Not having clearly defined task in projects is the reason many are not completed or seem overwhelmed
Spoken truly like someone that works from home :) Love the final result, but it can be so disruptive to deal with contractors and the noise. 7:51
It seems you use a slightly different approach for projects and have them in your notes app? Do you not use a project manager for projects like Asana or Coda, Notion etc. to track the progress of projects (e.g. in a Kanban board)?
As a Project Manager , I’m struggling with your framework here.
Projects rarely have “sub projects”. A Project is divide by task, sub task and milestone completions.
Really, 15 projects max active projects?! Maybe that's why I'm constantly feeling overwhelmed and failing a lot and letting people and employees down all the time.
@TiagoForte I feel like steps two and three should be swapped in this video. Seems like one must weed out False Projects before whittling the list down to the 10-15 rule. Also, you mention "Mega Projects" - how do you sort and track those? Do you keep a master list of Mega Projects and refer to it as you complete "mini projects"?
About 11:32 in, you use the word 'monumentous' when you meant 'monumental', or perhaps 'momentous'. Yes, I am *the* editor ;-)
Personally, I believe that, if you're propounding on a topic of such precision, you really should get it things like that right. A bell should go off in your head when you're not sure of a definition, or other fact, and you should check.
By the way, I'm very impressed with your stuff here. I've been working on, and with organizational methods for more than 40 years, and your ideas seem really great for most people starting to look for some system.
I think that what you are calling projects are milestones... I realize that is a bit complex to explain in a short video, but might be good to include in your book.
Really nice content. I like the structure with which you deliver the message.
For me, the video style is over the top. Essentially by adding the multiple cameras, you are trying too hard. It makes it more difficult to watch compared to a single camera setup.
Thank you... this was very helpful .. I hope you do a series about the CODE, coz I don't know how to distill information
IRS guy writing out his projects list: Investigate Tiago's 2021 taxes 😂
What to do, if I can't recall any project that I have, or planned? I have work to do, but it can't be a project and my hobbies or other routine stuff. :(
How to handle mega project? is it the breakdown of it eating the 10-15 quota list?
Wait you coming with a new book? REally liked the first !
A doubt @Tiago Forte. What to do with finished projects? Delete related files or place them in an Archived folder?
Scary structured approach🙈
Yet, piano should be very structured and even reading - scheduled.
Awesome thank you, I regret years ago switching from Evernote. I like the system, I have tons of information, look forward to video two thanks from Vancouver Island Canada 🇨🇦
Did the home studio article get posted somewhere?
Amazing video. Just discovered you a few days ago and i'm in love with the content so far. Small question tho, this is the first time I'm hearing you mention mega projects. Would the mega project it self fit into area?
Edit:
For more context i'm a game developer and i have a game in the works. I've been considering this a project but now that you mentioned mega projects i'm starting to think it leans more towards that. Should i make my game an area with planned sub projects and then just pull those from there (and into projects) according to how actionable they are at the moment?
Yes, this is a great approach
If you develop that game in your spare-time your approach may work out fine. If you are an indie dev and mostly work on that game, you may consider it a "personal program" and maintain it outside of your PARA structure.
I sometimes have trouble distinguishing projects from areas. In the case a of a class or course -- is that considered a Project because it's temporary and has an end date, or an Area because there's no real "outcome" other than finishing the course. I suppose it ultimately doesn't matter as long as everything is together, but it hurts my brain (both 1st and 2nd!) every time it comes up.
Typically, a Course or a Class is a Project - but that's assuming you're taking the course right now and have an end date + outcome in mind (e.g. finish the course). That makes it an active project.
If you buy a course or class but don't have a commitment to when you'd like to complete it, just sometime in the future, it's not an active project (until that changes). So go ahead and store it either in an Area (e.g. "Self Development / Personal Dev" or "Marketing" or whatever the relevant topic is) or Resources (e.g. "Courses I've Bought")
More details in The PARA Method book, but this should comment alone should help ;-)
@@TiagoForte Thanks for the insights. Have the book, guess it's already time for a second read!
Elon mask + Mr. Beast = Tiago
Tiago tudo bem?
Nós do Brasil já estamos com seu livro todo em português em mãos, e é muito bom! Ainda estou no meio da leitura, está Playlist do "PARA Method" conseguiria viabilizar legendas em Português?
Para complementar o conteúdo do livro! Infelizmente no Brasil poucos tem acesso a aprender a lingua inglesa.
Vamos tentar
@@TiagoForte espero que consiga! No Brasil temos pouco conteúdo de qualidade sobre produtividade e menos ainda de produtores de conteúdo falando sobre seus métodos! Vai ser um sucesso.
Meus projetos parecem coisas que eu irei atingir daqui 10 ou 15 anos. Eles não seriam projetos? Seria algo maior ? ou são sim projetos de longo alcance ?
another video from this great series
What email provider do you use & why? Thank you
Thank you for inventing such a neat system for organizing stuff. You brought a sense of organization into my stuff.
Hello, how you set the daily habits like - meditation or 30 min workout or daily schedule?
I don’t know how Tiago sets up his daily habits, but from my observation there are people who are good at consistency in their habits and others who need support. honestly, a Post-it note can work wonders for habits. Think about your life and what makes sense. For me, exercise outside is going to very hugely according to whether the temperature is 110 at midday or freezing. Being outdoors for pretty much anything is going to change when the weather hits 100 early in the day, my habit of doing grocery shopping, much less exercising outdoors, is going to be hugely different in different seasons for example. if you have a lot of kids around, that’s not when you want to schedule your meditation, most likely, unless you are an upper level guru, lol. It’s very helpful to cluster habits logically by context, a la GTD. if I’m in the bathroom, it makes a lot of sense to scrub the toilet and wipe the counters etc. and maybe do one of the weekly tasks on specified days each week when I happen to be in there. In the kitchen, same thing. putting away clean dishes if not done already usually leads the way, then there’s room for the dirty ones when I start cooking or warming something up and getting dishes dirty. While I am getting things out of the refrigerator, I’m scanning for anything that is near or after its expiration date so I can use it or lose it. I might vacuum the floor today in preparation for dust mopping tomorrow and steaming it the following day. Or do all three of those in a limited area in different places in the downstairs throughout the week. I’m trying really hard to include A digital cleanup time in my desk/office routine, but there’s a lot to do without that and it often gets overlooked. I use drop-down menus that I created in my browsers that make it simple to go through routines of checking email, checking accounts, checking text messages in apps that have desktop apps, going through the mail, I have folders labeled File, repurpose, shred in case my shredder has walked away to another room or Someone forgot to put the recycling trash can back at my desk. I have a routine for arriving home but I mostly follow. Life would be simpler if I did it all the time because then my receipts would be noted and filed for later archiving or destruction. you can create helpful routines as you physically move through your day in a way that makes sense regarding who you are with, and what is available to you in the different locations, etc. and a Post-it note is a very easy way to accomplish this. If you have 3 x 5 cards, there are a little wallets that can hold those if you want to help a portable reminder system. if you want to track them, all the habits, you can create a dashboard checklist for daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, twice a year and annual things to do.
Where are the simple tasks that does not belong to a project? A separate to do list?
another video from this great series . from . I wish I had known this before 5 years..
Thank you very much @TiagoForte sir! This process is truly helpful for productive people.
I categorize my Projects into these Areas to Figure out where I want to spend my time
🟣STRENGTH:
Power stone - Workouts & General Health
🔵PERSISTENCE
Space Stone : Habits & House Maintenance
🟢EXPERIENCE
Time Stone : Relationships and Fun Activities
🔴CREATIVITY
⭕CONTRIBUTION
Reality Stone - Side hustle, Work, creative experession
🟠INTELLIGENCE
Mind stone: Second brain/ Learning
🟡ACHIEVEMENTS
Soul Stone - Project management
⚫LIFETIME
Yin / Yang - Self Reflection and life Organization
nothing for fun/play/rereation?
@@dennisnehrenheim that's under 🟢 experience 😉 by activities i meant fun stuff haha
after having tried countless productivity methods over many years, I have finally found a man of genius. Thank you.
Me waiting for him to remove spending more time with his son💀
Is it correct to say PARA is for Organize step of CODE?
That's right!
Not sure about the no less than 10 number, especially as you list fatigue as one of the reasons a project might stall. If it is fatigue, moving seamlessly into another project may not be the answer. The answer may be to stop and recover. Overwhelm is dangerous and can lead to catastrophic burnout. If you only have five projects, you can focus on five, and recharge when you're not working on them. The same goes for having four, three, two or one. There is no shame in that. In fact, it may be healthier for you.
I would call "Stop and recover" a project, so yes I agree
I’m loving this series! Question: do you have a 10-15 project list each for personal and work? Or do you have one list of 15 for both?
Across both. When it comes to projects, I see little distinction between work and personal projects. They both take time and similar approaches
@@TiagoForte thank you so much for answering!
great work! really helped me understand the PARA method further and enabled me to optimize my Notion setup
Não vejo a hora de poder ler seu novo livro em português, adoraria a oportunidade de te entrevistar em meu Podcast
I don’t understand this:
“Hobbies are projects with no specific goal”
So, if I would like to learn gouache with the purpose of relaxing and decreasing my screen time. Can learning gouache be seen as a project?
I look at it like this: Learning a new hobby or skill is a project, the ongoing practice of that skill or hobby is an area.
Im coming from GTD perspective with single actionable events and projects. How do you treat these smaller "todos" in PARA? Is everything a project no matter what or do you place those single events somewhere else? And you won't put mega projects in to projects, so where you place the overall project container?
I came to ask a similar question, in the process of moving over a somewhat messy todo list and im "stuck" on a simple item like "make appointment for XX", which i just jotted down when it came to mind. I'd put it under the Area "Health + Fitness" (makes sense) but dont have an active project that's like "schedule all appointments". My 3 proposed solutions would be to 1) create a project called "Health and Fitness Misc" to store ongoing one-offs like "Schedule appointment" in Health and Fitness 2) Since this is coming up in multiple areas one could create just one project for one-offs called "catch-all" (or something like that) that can be a reservoir for actionable items that arent part of larger projects or 3) add another relation property to my tasks database to link a task to a specific area without tagging an ongoing project (I use Notion so this might be specfic to myself and other notion users). I think similar issues arise with things like regular maintenance of anything (giving my dog heartguard at the beginning of every month, my dog is an Area but doesnt really fit as a project). I wonder what @TiagoForte would recommend... my thinking is probably option 3 and then massaging your custom displays to show info about upcoming tasks that are tied to both tangible projects AND simple repeated tasks/simple one-offs. Curious if anyone has tried either of these with success!
hi there, I was wondering. In this part you say that the project should have a clear goal (where writing a book is too big) and that we should not have more than 15 or less than 10.
In your other parts you have 19 projects (part1) and the projects you wrote down seem rather big. Also, where do you keep hold of mega projects and red thread of them?
Each part of this series was filmed at different times, so the projects you see change from one video to the next. Which is the way it should be! You want regular turnover in your projects to keep things fresh. And sometimes I have less or more of them, and they are bigger or smaller. This isn't about adopting some rigid rule, but about adapting dynamically to changing seasons
organize you to do list .
Thank you Tiago for changing my life
How is a project different from a to do
Question: I saw in your last video that you had BASB Book launch as a project with underlying documents, but here you mention that it shouldn't be a project as it is too big. You replaced it with Inc. book pre-orders. And that is where I am confused on.
Let's say I am launching a new physical brand with many different projects such as launching a website. This project on its own includes several steps like finding the best domain host, designer to design the website, developer to implement the design an etc. So in PARA method, where should I define these steps, and which one goes to the project.
I wanna make sure I make a note of all steps but at the same time, I tackle the first step.
The "BASB Book Launch" project refers only to the sales and promotion of the book, not anything related to writing it. Even just the promotion borders on being too big though. If I was struggling or feeling lost with it, the first thing I'd do is break it down into smaller subprojects
@@TiagoForte I understand your explanation about breaking down larger projects, such as a book launch. Now, I'm curious about how you personally manage these complex tasks. When writing a book, you must handle numerous subprojects like research, writing different chapters, and promotions. How do you first outline these processes, plan the sequence, and then initiate each mini-project? Do you use a master list to first break down these larger goals and then transfer them to the project section as you work on them?
@@mansour.norouzi For large projects with a bunch of tasks I like to take a page from GTD and create a next actions list. What is the very next thing I need to do to move this project forward, this becomes the item on your projects list.
What would you do with your mega-projects so you know which projects are done and which is next to add to your project list?
If you have similar or grouped Projects, consider creating an Area or Resource on that topic, and feel free to move your projects over to those Areas or Resources when you complete them (instead of to Archives)
In general, mega-projects are kind of an illusion. If every step (micro-project) along the way is going to reveal so much new information that it renders most of the long-term planning obsolete, it's really much better to just concentrate your energy on taking that step as effectively as possible. (I can hardly think of a long-term project that I've done besides the book.)
TLDR: Most large projects shouldn't exist in favor of projects.
Greate series of videos! Thanks for sharing
I have trouble distinguishing mega-projects and projects. What do you think is a good time window for a project ?
For instance : I want to publish a model daily for 7 days starting next monday. Does it count as 1 or 7 ?
I would consider that as a project because it's a relatively short time frame. Each day would be a separate task you have to achieve to complete the project. You could go even further and make subtasks in your to-do list that help you make that days model. Hope that helps 😊
May I ask something:
Do you have projects inside an area?
For example, I work as a freelance architect (should I have an area called “my office” and have projects (my client's projects) inside? also where does go SOP's?
I am an Architect too and I struggle with this too. Each project is essentially a Megaproject with smaller subprojects in it. I have a personal projects and work projects, so I can keep them separated.
@@denispohlman4178 and where you place your libraries and assets
You're writing a book wrong...
Question..
A lot of my job is doing one-off bits of analytics - someone emails me with a task, which I'll generally do in one hit & often won't have any follow-up.
Where do these go ?
This can simply go in your task manager (to-do list app).
@TiagoForte Thanks for the reply.
Okay - so these are effectively outside the scope of this system ?
Ai Elon Musk
What should I do, if I only have less than 10 project at hand?
Make a list like of potential additional projects like demonstrated in the video - and to draw out more project ideas, try this: as you go through your day, notice what you're either already doing (that's actually a part of a project but you aren't noticing the bigger picture of) OR what you'd like to be doing right now that fits a project criteria (notice what desires resonate throughout your day)
You'll find your hidden projects. Add them to your list, review, cull if needed, move forward
Mariam Spring