One of my areas in life is cooking food for my family. It is an area because there is no finite endpoint like a project, but I do have an ongoing standard to maintain. My family is counting on me to make food. It's my responsibility. I keep a cooking section under my Areas section in my notes. I keep everything that has to do with my cooking responsibility in that section: meal plans, recipes, favorite foods, useful cooking tips or charts, etc. I don't keep everything food related there, though. I’m interested in coffee, beer, and cast iron. Those are tangentially related to food, but I have no responsibility or standard to maintain with these things. They are simply interests. Those go into my resources section along with PDF manuals of appliances and things like that. It is a bit based on your own whims, however. Only you really decide what what is an area in your life. If I were super big into coffee or brewed my own beer, then I might move that stuff to my Area section. --- Maybe we are overthinking this? - Projects - things with definitive deadlines (most actionable) - Areas - things with a standard to be maintained (very actionable) - Resources - things of interest worth referencing (less actionable) Think of things in terms of actionability and producing things and necessity. I like the very bottom of this image as an example that shows actionability: [actionability](https://res.cloudinary.com/dg3gyk0gu/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,q_auto:best,w_1100/v1586173192/maggieappleton.com/basb/Basb1-4_2x.jpg) Or you can think of it in terms of importance. Or you can think of it in terms of producing content. Or you can think of it in terms of generating money. Or you can think of it in terms of am I going to get in trouble or not if I MAINTAIN this thing. --- (From a personal perspective) Project Examples - New Gaming PC build (has deadline) - Setup Self-Hosted Service X (has a deadline) - Learn JavaScript (has a deadline) Area Examples - Bills (if I don't pay these, I get in trouble; MAINTAIN + CONSEQUENCE) - Health Tracker (live longer; I have to MAINTAIN it, or I die sooner; MAINTAIN + CONSEQUENCE) - Personal Website/Blog (online presence and branding; I need to maintain this otherwise content goes stale, security holes open up from no patches, etc. MAINTAIN + CONSEQUENCE) - Investments (we all want more money to feed ourselves and retire. MAINTAIN + CONSEQUENCE. But if YOU don't care about retirement or money, then this is not an Area for you.) Resources - Linux Communities (doesn't matter if I look at it or not) - Games (not essential to my life, but fun; no consequences if I don't maintain my game library) - Funny Gifs (maybe essential to my Slacks; not the end of the world if I don't maintain this) (From a work perspective) Project Examples - Q4 Team Planning - XYZ Product Launch Area Examples - Weekly Performance Reporting (gotta do this; MAINTAIN + CONSEQUENCE) - Weekly 1x1 Agenda with Manager (gotta do this; MAINTAIN + CONSEQUENCE) - Daily audit of team (gotta do this; MAINTAIN + CONSEQUENCE) - Purchase Orders & Invoices (gotta do this; MAINTAIN + CONSEQUENCE) - Career Development Plan (make more monies, gotta do this; MAINTAIN + CONSEQUENCE) Resource Examples - Wiki link to company benefits page (doesn't matter if I don't touch it; I don't maintain this wiki) - Google Slides showing how Product ABC works (doesn't matter if I don't touch it; I didn't create this so who cares) - Process Diagram showing how Team B works (doesn't matter if I don't touch it; I also didn't create this and don't expect it to be maintained, no biggie) > For example, where would the following live: **Movie/Book/Music lists and recommendations?** Is it essential to your life and is this something you HAVE to maintain? If it's like core to you and you have to maintain it to make money or live life, it's an area. If it's non essential, it's a resource. **Lists of travel destinations, overseas, local, camping ideas etc** Are you working in travel professionally or a travel planner? If so, it's areas. If it's something that's good to have in the future, it's resources. **Hobby-based information, say for photography and mushroom growing?** They are hobbies/interests. It's in the definition. If you have a photography business and are making money and are required to take photos, it's an area. If it's optional, it's a resource. For mushroom growing, managing plants I think requires _MAINTAIN_ance? If it does, it's clearly an area because if you don't do something with it, it dies, right? **Personal information about myself and family — bank, insurance, passport details, birth certificate info etc?** This is too broad of a category. Look at my personal examples above. Bills HAVE to be paid or bad stuff happens. Your passport is just a thing. You don't have to do anything with it, just grab it. You renew it once every like... what... 20 years? Add a project called 'Renew Passport' when it becomes relevant. --- In the end, it is entirely dependent upon you and your personal situation. There is no one-bucket fits all. I don't care about photography and I don't generate money or have a community that dies if I don't post photos. Interest in photography is a Resource. But if I ran a popular photography blog or sold photos for a living, then it has to be maintained, and therefore it is an Area. If I had to dumb it down: - Areas (MAINTAIN + CONSEQUENCE. If it impacts my personal well-being, financials, career, other people if I don't MAINTAIN this thing, then there are CONSEQUENCES. If it is core to how you live life and you have to maintain it, it is an Area.) - Resources (is simply anything that is nonessential and there are no consequences to failing to maintain it. My movie collection desires to be maintained and updated of course. It doesn't happen on its own. But if I don't do it... no one gets hurt and nothing happens. On the other hand, if movie collecting was a serious hobby that I spent several hours per week invested in, and I'd become depressed or crazy if I keep it organized, then there clearly is an emotional CONSEQUENCE it will take on me if I don't MAINTAIN it, then this could be considered an area.)