PARA Question - where do inactive projects go?

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I’ve realized that there are tons of projects that I would do today it I could clone myself, but I can’t.

So I find myself collecting information about a project, like a TV upgrade, and then wondering where to file the notes for it in the PARA method. What prompted my post is the TV upgrade scenario , because when I went to file it, I noticed I had projects from 3 years ago that I intend to finish but not in the near future.

So, where should I put them so I don’t see them until I am ready to work on a “new” project? In Omnifocus, I have a folder called “incubator” where I put projects that I plan on working on someday in the future.

I’ll probably create a similar folder for my Notes if no one else has a better idea. It’s also best if I look at my notes as little as possible since I have about 1700 notes in my inbox. I’ll get to them…someday.

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I’d put a someday/maybe folder in archive with those projects in it.

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I have an “Abandoned” folder and an “On Hold” folder for each project. Abandoned is for things I don’t think will be progressed but which I believe may have some future value, On Hold is for things I intend to progress in future.

In Omnifocus I add a Someday task with a link to the folder.

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In PARA, it would probably go under Archive where you can retrieve it again when it’s active. But ultimately, do what makes the most sense to you. Systems are starting points.

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IMO PARA misses the key concept of Someday/Maybe.

I’m using Obsidian for all my notes and I have both single note potential future projects and folders (I use a folder for each project that has support material or lots of pieces) I then have a MOC toTOC type note that links all of those based on the type or area the potential future project belongs to.

A TV Upgrade would have a note titled TV_Upgrade that uses my project note template. I have a MOC note that has all my someday/maybe lists as separate notes. One of them is Personal_Projects_to_Do. The contents for that TV Upgrade would be one of the following:

  • 1 sentence description of a potential future project Investigate a new TV for the living room.
  • A link to the note where I’ve collected the info about the future project such as TV_Upgrade
  • 1 sentence with a link to the folder where all the various TV notes are located. The folder might have reviews of several models, list of stores where they can be found, prices etc. Any project support material goes in the same folder.

Now TV Upgrade wouldn’t need a folder in my world. I could handle that project with a single main project note. But one that does have its own folder is 2025-09_Attend_Hill_Sheep_Show_Escanaba because I have travel info, presentations, packing lists of equipment to take and more in there.