I love the Apple Notes example. This gets rid of the excuse of "I'm searching for the best app" for many of us who are overthinkers. Rather than go down rabbit holes, we should simply start.
I have been there and I read desperate pleas for help from people looking for the best app. This should be easy, but people are hell bent on complexity. They want cute and pretty over usefulness and productivity. Apple gives you Notes, Calender, Numbers, Pages and Keynote. Everything can be connected to give you a FREE and highly productive system that just works. Love your videos.
I did and moved on to Obsidian… for now. 😂 I‘m not a fan of markdown but it is great that you can just move all your files into another app or folder and go on with your notes.
I need a manual for ever thing. Otherwise I think I'm not using it right or I'm missing out on something. Don't be that guy 😂 Nothing is perfect. We make the tools work for us, not the other about about.
This was probably the best demonstration of your method I’ve seen so far - the idea that you don’t have to have a holistic view up front to be able to organize yourself is somehow radical, but deeply empowering!
Fell back in love with Apple Notes after abandoning Evernote, for good reason. So nice to get back to basics and just get used to capturing the most essential.
Ever since I seen your first PARA video I’ve been structuring my life within it. Makes things so much easier. I use to have 100s of folders filled with 1,000s of files that I forgot and haven’t touched in years. Now I know how to organize it!
I recently took the PARA method and updated my Apple Notes (and my work OneDrive and Chrome bookmarks - it’s been quite liberating!). One thing I do with Notes is a Smart Folder for notes created in the last 30 days (I did start with 7 days). I then do a monthly review of the month, a check of my notes if they are in the right place, have a proper title instead of “new note”, tags etc. Doing this seems to help my review process and also is a way of triggering new ideas or links between notes.
I switched from Notion to Apple Notes so that I don’t spend too much time making my notes pretty and overthinking. One thing I struggle with is the distinction between Areas and Resources Update: thinking about Areas as Areas of RESPONSIBILITY really helped
@@velmurugann6817 I haven't used Notion, but I see it more as a private wiki. It is public. No privacy or real encryption. Better suited for a company or team work. I don't know what you note, but I don't want to have to think about whether it's safe to use Notion for every note. Apple Notes is great, but Apple only. I need my notes on many different devices now.
I use the PARA method within Apple Notes but a little differently as I rely on Smart Folders. I use a blank folder with capital letters to divide up my folders. Eg ---PROJECTS This way I can drag folders from a Project to Archive. I don’t have as many folders as you. My system strongly relies on Smart Folders. (Which is why I can’t collapse the folders). When I start a new folder for, say, Trip to Nice…I make it a Smart Folder with all tags for Nice being the filter. Then, I search my notes and folders for related content to repurpose. As I come across notes that I want in the Nice folder, I use the tag “Nice”. This means it stays in the original folder, as well as appearing in the Trip to Nice folder. Using Smart Folders allows me to quickly repurpose notes into new projects. It also allows me to add it to several folders when I first create it. So, when I add a note for my parents, it may also end up with a medical tag and adds it to a medical folder, and a parent tag (which puts it into a Smart Folder called Mum and Dad which is a shared with my siblings).
Love how clear and concise this breakdown was. Been building and tweaking my second brain for almost a year now and this just gave me so much clarity. Great reminder that it doesn’t have to be complicated.
Amazing timing just about to start organising my apples notes into a second brain! ☺ ill give you a cool tip for those looking to do the same rather than copying and pasting from an article in safari, you can either hit the globe key and Q and that will make a quick note with a link to the article and the highlighted section on the Mac or on iPad you can drag from the bottom right corner and it will do the same. finally on iPhone just highlight the text and a where you would copy it gives you an option to make a quick note! amazing video thank you for sharing your brilliant system ❤
PARA method is pure genius, I’m finding it really productive and easy. It definitely brings down the mess of digital as well as thought organisation to mere arrangement of information, thanks Tiago👍
I recently discovered your material and book. I’m learning something new almost everyday. I’m a very busy IT director and being able to quickly find notes and reference materials is critical. I use an iPad Pro more than I do a desktop or laptop. With an iPad, most apps and websites will let you upload directly to Apple Notes.
I saw the demo of your PARA Method a while ago (it's awesome BTW 💪) and since I use Apple Notes I implemented exactly what you showed in that example. Everything except one. Maybe that would be of some kind of value. In the Archives folder, I duplicate the PAR Structure. When I archive something it goes to the corresponding directory. That really helps me to keep the whole thing clean all the way 😉 As for the small improvement in creating a note in Apple Ecosystem, I suggest to utilize the "share" function. You can add the whole Tweet/X Post, or fragment of an article. without leaving the browser ;))))) Thanks for the video!
Great idea of using the same structure in archives I also like to use tags and smart folders. Only downside - you can not put smart folders in regular folders so far.
Comecei a usar o método PARA no apple notes e estava ansioso por esse vídeo. Fiquei feliz porque validou o que eu já estava fazendo, confirmou que eu estava fazendo do jeito "certo'" (orientado por você). Valeu e parabéns pelo conteúdo!
I like how open and honest you are about what you are doing. You are detailed in how PARA can be used in the many different apps. The speed that you share the information is clearer than many other creators. You have helped me figure out what is the best starting app for me to use to build my second brain. Thank you!
this is just what I needed! I tried PARA on several platforms for trial, but basically I always relate back to my NOTES app on my MacBook, as it is connected across all my devices. Thank you so much , Tiago! ❤
Very new to the 2nd Brain concept (reading on my Kindle now). Love that you've created this video on Apple notes. At first I was diligently trying to revamp my note taking process by researching applications like Notion and Evernote. I got to the part of the book where you suggested I should "keep it simple" and "do what works". Apple notes takes the inertia completely out of the process because it's just...there.
ikr? Currently using Joplin which has a similar structure to Evernote (which I was using before but became too glitchy and overpriced). I am sure the PARA method can be applied in any software, perhaps with some modifications. Having said that, I would not be surprised if a "using PARA in Notion" video comes out soon, since the point is to attract as many people as possible.
This is really timely! I had stopped my usual analysis paralysis with several ‘apps of the moment’ and was thinking that I should just use Apple Notes. I set up the PARA folders and then something wasn’t clicking so I returned to Evernote. I don’t know WHY I didn’t think it was working in the same way, but I see that, of course it does! Thanks Tiago. Your clear and fluid delivery is music to these ears.
I have finished watching the whole series. I want to thank you for making the series, I'm on the brink of losing my job and this is helping me to put everything together, I will practice this and see how it goes, but definitely shade light on my current situation. Thank you so much, Tiago!
Something I wonder: When using Apple Notes + Apple Reminders, how can I link a note to a todo in the reminder? (Like Tiago showed in Part 3 but with other tools)
I'm still trying to fulling put the PARA Method into practice, but one big thing I did earlier this year was to redo my Apple Notes sidebar fully into PARA folders and subfolders. Since I've been using Notes beginning around 2015, it was a challenge to move all of my previous notes to the Archives folder, because I did not want to delete the previous content. There are some quirks and limitations I had to deal with to move the previous folders and notes to Archives, but I did it. I find the system to be more engaging and active, and look forward to improving on it when the book comes out. Thanks for this; really useful.
Para for a year now. Finds: -Projects have a «Meta» note staring with a «Why» section (pun: the book) followed by How, Milestones, Goals and Vision (original idea, how I envisioned it) -Projects have a «Main» folder if I need an entry point for actionables, where I tend to list subtitles: Next, Todo, Continuous/Focus, Roadmap w alternatives++ -Resources always at the bottom of any note, organized part of note always on top. Easy to refactor -In addition I keep a «daily» folder that function like a detailed calendar and generic todo-list for the coming few days, more flexible for detailed, by-the-hour changing info than a calendar app imo. Travel iteraries for instance
I watched many of your videos and i really do feel inspired. The only thing that I am struggling with, is whether I should combine or split my private & professional PARA. I feel like it would be better to keep both spheres separate .. but it might be too much to manage both as a beginner. Also, is there an elegant way to consolidate information on your progress for weekly meetings, where you give an update on all of your tasks? Thank you!
A wonderful demonstration. I've watched the video several times & each time I can find it useful and understand more the mechanism of applying the PARA method. Thank you, Tiago!
Tiago - thx you! i am a member of your BASB subscription. I love it. I struggle though with all the choices. Notion is what i use today and its very deep, but Apple notes performs better and isn't as deep in terms of format support, and there are next to zero integrations to make working across note taking apps easy. ANy thoughts on that?
Nice video. Enjoyed your way of organizing information. I have been using my apple notes very ineffectively.. this was a good way of approaching the problem of organizing information without over thinking it... Cheers
Hi Tiago, thank you for this video. I don't use IPhone, but I created similar setup in Samsung notes. I use Obsidian too, but it's easier to use Samsung notes on the go
Thanks for this. I just started this. One suggestion is to put windows next to each other and drag and drop. We can also use the “share” feature to send to Notes and the specific location in Notes.
I'm really enjoying these video lessons on how to use PARA. I seem to still have trouble understanding what is supposed to go inside Areas. For example if I have an Area called "Health" what would be some things to include? For example, let's say part of my health is to lose 10% body fat in the next 18 months (to me that would be a project). I will also follow a workout routine and specific nutrition plan (Project & Resource??). Where does Areas come into play with this? Hope this makes sense.
Olá, dentro da área "Saúde" eu coloco sessão de terapia, consultas médicas, exames, comprovantes de pagamento de plano de saúde. Como o Tiago explica, são coisas que não são "acionáveis" como os projetos, mas que são importante de ter guardado para registro e consulta. Espero que esse comentário te ajude, valeu
@@gustavomoraes9538 boa noite. Tudo bem? Obrigado por explicar. I don't know much Portuguese but I was able to understand what you said which makes sense. Fala!
Many thanks Tiago: very clever! just enhanced my personal Notes folders with 4 main PARA folders! for my personal data. Will implemented the same PARA method for my professional data on One Note (paperless for decades), with secured servers. What could be the added value of an AI for our "second brain"?
Hi there, thank you for sharing your PARA-method! It really works. 😊 One question: is it possible to get a complete e-mail into Apple Notes, like forwarding it to your account in evernote or like the Outlook feature: send to OneNote?
Great video, thanks! How would you go if you need to save an actual email to Apple notes? I saw Evernote had an email you could forward it to, but not sure if Apple notes has that.
I just tried it, and it works, but it creates the email as a hyperlink. Press down on the email from the list page, and don’t let go once it pops up, selected. Now you can drag it into your Notes app and drop it into a file of your choosing. It will appear as a hyperlink so you can access that information from that file moving forward.
How do you keep ALL of these areas nurtured? On a weekly or monthly basis you go through all those “areas” and evaluate if you’ve addressed things in them for the week or month or just adhoc it?
For whats its woth, I tried doing it in ROAM with some metadata at the top of each page, but it was just too complex and too messy. Personally I found that having folders is optimal for PARA as opposed to relying only on connections. As to Obsidian, it has folders and should work just fine for PARA. However, i cannot justify paying 8USD per month only for sync (and 10GB per vault only!), so unless I find an easy and frictionless way to sync my Obsidian notes to my phone for free (I have ONEDRIVE storage), I will stick to Joplin for now. Also tried using PARA inside TheBrain, if some people are interested I might do a video about that. Basically each Brain would be like an area of life, and each area would have its own PARA. As I said, PARA could be applied to anything, with some minor adjustments needed.
I have a question about the note from your coaching session. You documented the note into a project. Once the project is done, you will archive it. Do you then move the note from the coaching session to another folder (since it was not specific to this project) or do you archive the note along with the project? Feels like you might miss out on this note (especially since you can not search for the words in the note because it is handwritten) while it might be useful in the future.
If it were me, I would probably save the coaching note in resources instead. Then maybe link to that note from within an existing relevant note. (Don’t know how to link in Apple Notes yet, but I think I remember reading that you could.)
I think that was a super useful demonstration of using Apple Notes to get the most from the app. However, I’m looking forward to the upcoming update that will incorporate linking to individual notes.
Great series, but Apple Notes is pretty similar to Evernote. I was hoping you would demo how PARA would work in something fundamentally different like Obsidian or Roam.
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?
I use PARA to organize Apple Notes but I wonder about the best way to organize tasks in Apple Reminders. Do you recommend using the same PARA folder structure?
When it comes to areas, how much do you reckon it’s worth breaking them down into? For example I’m trying to improve my science knowledge, should I just make one area called science, or one called psychology, biology, physics, chemistry etc? I’m thinking of some sort of rule, that a folder must contain around 50 notes before it can be broken down into seperate folders. What do you think?
I’ve been using a second brain for a long time, and I’d say that it’s really dependent on how you want to learn. Personally id have different folders, but you could have one big one and use tags for each sub category of science. As for the rule, I think that kind of defeats the purpose of this work. It needs to be fluid and dynamic. If you’ve got a topic and you want to make a sub group, just go for it. Tiago always says (and I agree) worst case scenario you can just use search for whatever you’re looking for. Keep it fluid and, from my experience anyway, you’ll find your system is a lot stronger for it!
The Notes app is on all of the devices so when you put it on one device, you can read it on all of them. It’s all on the cloud. I have two MacBooks, an iMac,, and an iPad. Within seconds, what I wrote on one appears on another.
No livro "criando um segundo cérebro" do Tiago ele fala que, pra aplicativos que não possuem essa função, você pode usar a função "sublinhar" ao invés de "destacar". Espero que esse comentário te ajude, valeu!
I started learning about PARA and I cannot figure out how to implement it in apps such as logseq or roam research. I will appreciate it if you will show an example
Whats a good alternative to Apple Notes / One Note? I love both for different reasons but would like something I can manage whether I am on Linux or PC as well.
I'm kinda confused with Areas and Resources. When I look through all of my notes I think most of them can well fit into Areas and Resources as well. For example, I have 'Home' area, where I put all of my stuff related with Home. So let's say I have a note with list of home related random things like type of the batteries we use in the kitchen scale, and so on. Does it fit in AREA folder? Or it maybe should be put into a RESOURCE called 'Home'? Maybe I just overthink it but I'd like to have a clear vision of what type of notes should be placed in a specific folder.
Hey Tiago, I just watched your video and I must say that it was really informative and well-made. I loved your videos. I was wondering if I could help you edit your videos and also make highly engaging shorts for you?
Love it - Could you explain how to structure and navigate a personal/business balance if i run an agency with multiple client projects ongoing? What are some best practice if it gets a little more dicey? I am currently defaulting to 2 different Notion workspaces and it doesnt feel fluid.
Tiago, I'm implementing the PARA method but I'm struggling with sorting notes that may be relevant in several folders. For example, notes from work meetings where more than one project is referenced and decisions are made. Any suggestions? 🙏
I solved this using Tags for my projects. One tag for each project. Now if, in any note I have to write something for one or more projects, I just select the Tag. Then, if I want to gather everything I have written for one or more projects I just tap or click the related tag or tags. Hope it helps.
Nice, although as good as Apple Notes (solved digitising PDF form scanning, completion and signing) is, Apple Freeform is almost all encompassing (with powerful project, workflow and collaboration tools, although lacks one of my favourite tools: gantt charts (yes I use agile too and not just deprecated scrum/waterfall methods)). Additionally, Apple Notes is a classic 'filesystem tree', rather than the new, constraint free 'directed graph', knowledge management structure. The bi-directional knowledge linking/access as well as graphing and mind maps are imho ultimate comprehension and eagle's view perspective of knowledge management. If I may be so bold as to ask where might you store Knowledge base material in the P.A.R.A. acronym please, Areas or Resources?
Great video showing the PARA method. However I don’t think you cover the extremely strong functionality you have in Notes capture stuff from multiple sourced. Quick notes, sharing from multiple sources, Siri, integration with iOS +++
great video. would you consider to do a video on the system applied to OneNote please? I ditched evernote with the pricejump and I'm quite happy with OneNote. Thanks!
Try to figure out the reason to use Evernote instead of Apple notes , for myself. I’m not a business person or anything just trying to organize day to day things in one place
I have a question. Suppose i take meeting notes. So confusing whether to keep it in PROJECT or AREAS. A meeting has a start date and end date and its related to a specific PROJECT - so PROJECT Also i think a meeting is never ending think - so lets put in AREAS Very confusing where to put meeting notes in ? Its creating a friction AREAS and PROJECTS. Do we need to maintain duplicate meeting notes file in both the folders then ?
Acredito que depende da forma com que você trabalha. Caso as reuniões sejam frequentes, talvez você poderia criar uma pasta em "ÁREAS" com todas suas reuniões, e caso alguma dessas reuniões solicite de você alguma ação, essa ação pode ir para projetos. Exemplo: dentro de uma nota de reunião que está em "ÁREAS", você viu que precisar elaborar um relatório. Aí lá em "PROJETOS", você pode criar uma pasta chamada "Elaborar relatório". Espero que esse comentário ajude, valeu!
Hi Tiago, i have a general question to PARA. I use it for my notes since few weeks and i would love to apply it to my File System. So let's say i have an Area called "Finances" where my bills go in and other stuff. Now i have in my Projects section a Folder Called Buy New House where i put also the Bills for my new house in and Bills from renovation stuff etc. Question is: Should i put my Bills in the Projects Folder where it belongs or in the Financial Folder where all my bills are ? What is you opinion? Cheers Chris.
Just now read Second Brain in Amazon. Great for organising information and good explanation on how to use tags effectively. Still one doubt. Suppose we use Evernote or Apple Note, we create a new folder for each project. The Archives (space/ folder) keeps on getting bigger and bigger. How to tackle it?
