Post-PARA: What survived 4 years of real use

Summary

Post-PARA: What Survived 4 Years of Real UseIntroductionSix years ago I started using a simple to-do list. Four years ago I read about PARA and moved to it. After four years of actual use, I want to share what survived and what I changed.At some point I realized that some activities in my personal life weren’t easier than work projects. So if I use a task tracker for work, why not for personal life? My goals were:Remind myself about recurrent tasksHave notes with useful information connected to tasksUse structure for complex projects that can’t be done as 2-3 tasksWhat I Added to PARAPARA is a great approach for organizing your “Second Brain”. The distinction between projects and areas was eye-opening - I realized I’d been confusing them constantly. But it was missing one critical component: tasks.PARA covers Projects/Areas/Resources/Archive but lacks the execution layer. So I added:Tasks database - Linked to projects and areas. Each task designed to take 5-20 minutesRecurrent tasks - Tasks that appear automatically with specified periods. But used sparingly (more on this below).Inbox status - Quick capture point for new tasks. You don’t need to set all properties immediately - just dump it in inbox and process later.Time-delayed activation - Tasks appear when they become relevant, not before.Why NotionNotion’s paradigm matches relational databases - each entry is a page with structured properties. I can implement almost any structure I could build with SQL and create appropriate views. This made it natural to extend PARA with tasks while keeping everything connected.Tasks page in NotionWhat Changed Over 4 YearsAbandonedOver-automation - I tried using AI to create and manage tasks. My trust in the system immediately dropped. When I make all changes myself, I fully trust it. When something else starts editing tasks, that trust disappears.Excessive recurrent tasks - At one point I added everything I do regularly (even shaving, cutting nails). After a 2-week vacation, ...