Projects are the first of four categories in Tiago Forte's 📝PARA Method, defined by Forte Labs as short-term efforts in work or personal life taken on with a certain goal in mind.
Forte's examples include completing a webpage design, buying a new computer, writing a research report, renovating the bathroom, finishing a Spanish language course and setting up new living room furniture. Projects occupy the first of PARA's four top-level folders, ahead of 📝Areas, Resources and Archives.
In the Forte Labs article Project People vs. Area People, Forte defines a project as any endeavor with a desired outcome that allows it to be marked complete and a deadline or timeframe by which it should be done. An area of responsibility, by contrast, has a standard to be maintained continuously over time. In his summary, projects end, while areas continue indefinitely.
Forte writes that every project has a corresponding area it falls within. Running a marathon is a project, whereas health is an area; publishing a book is a project, whereas writing is an area; a vacation to Thailand is a project, whereas travel is an area.
Forte argues that breaking responsibilities down into bite-sized projects keeps the project list constantly turning over, and that this turnover creates a cadence of regular victories. Until areas are broken down into specific projects, he writes, a person cannot truly know the extent of their commitments or connect current efforts to long-term goals.