Thomas Frank Lecture Notes

Building a Life Organization System in Notion Using PARA Method

Introduction

• Presenter: Thomas Frank
• Topic: Life organization in Notion using PARA Method (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive)
• Objective: Create a complete PARA system from a blank page in Notion

PARA Method Overview

• Created by Tiago Forte as part of the Building a Second Brain course/book
• Best general system for organizing digital life
• Applicable for tasks, notes, projects, and web-clipped articles

Tutorial Overview

• Transition from blank Notion page to a complete PARA system
• Includes tasks, notes, projects, areas, resources, and archive
• Features table of contents for easy navigation

Housekeeping

1. Free Template: Available in the video description
   • Can be added to your workspace, customized, or used as is
2. Ultimate Brain Template: More advanced system including PARA
   • Robust task manager with recurring tasks, subtasks, and GTD dashboard
   • Note-taking system, recipe tracker, and many other features
   • Available on thomasjfrank.com/brain with a discount code

Building the PARA System

• Dashboard Structure: Bird's-eye view with inboxes for tasks and notes
• Projects Area: Database for projects
• Areas & Resources Database: Merges areas and resources into one
  • Helps in visually differentiating between areas and resources with tags

Notion Page Setup

1. Creating a PARA Dashboard

   • Add an icon and make it full width
   • Create a database page for source databases

2. Databases Creation

   • Tasks Database: Status and due properties
   • Notes Database: URL and base URL properties
     • Formula provided for extracting base URLs for web clips
   • Projects Database: Status property
   • Areas/Resources Database: Status property to differentiate
     • Checkbox property for archiving

Relations and Rollups

1. Setting Relations

   • Tasks ↔ Projects
   • Notes ↔ Projects/Areas/Resources
   • Projects ↔ Areas
   • Areas & Resources internal relation

2. Creating Rollups

   • Rollups for visualizing notes within resources under areas
   • Configuration using relation and root area properties

Template Creation

1. Project Template

   • Include tasks and notes sections
   • Quick links for easy navigation

2. Resource Template

   • Separate views for notes and web clips
   • Filtration by URL and base URL

3. Area Template

   • Sections for projects, resources, and notes
   • Different view styles (Board for projects, Gallery for resources)

Archive Page Setup

• For archiving completed tasks, notes, projects, and areas/resources
• Each section displays archived items

Aesthetic Tweaks

• Customize what properties show in databases
• Set default templates for different views
• Adding icons and headers for better looks

Additional Resources

• Ultimate Brain Template: Full productivity system with support and community
• Learning Notion: Guides and courses available on thomasjfrank.com
  • Notion databases, formulas, automation

Conclusion

• For more resources or questions, visit thumbnails in video or contact on Twitter (@TomFrankly)