Tiago Forte's PARA method is the most-recommended folder structure for personal knowledge. It was designed before phones became the primary capture device. Here is the mobile adaptation.
The original PARA
Projects (active, with deadlines), Areas (ongoing responsibilities), Resources (interest-based reference), Archives (everything inactive). Every note lives in exactly one bucket. Movement between buckets is the entire system.
Why it doesn't fit mobile
On a phone you capture first and classify never. The friction of choosing the right bucket while waiting in a coffee line is too high. Most people stop using PARA within a month of going mobile-first.
The mobile fix: capture-then-classify
Default everything to a single inbox. Once a week, batch-classify into PARA on whatever device you're using. The weekly review is where this happens.
Tags, not folders
Tag-based PARA — #project/launch, #area/health, #resource/ai-research — is more flexible than folders and survives the inbox-default flow. The graph view replaces folder browsing.
When to escalate to a project
A project has a deadline. An area is ongoing. A note tagged #project/launch should resolve in weeks; if it lingers for months it should become an area. Re-tagging is the only true PARA "filing."
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