Beyond PARA: The "Scholar’s Journey" Workflow (The TTT Method)

Knowledge management
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Hi everyone,

I want to share a workflow I designed for deep study and academic research. While productivity systems like PARA are great, they often treat “Knowledge” as just another “Resource.”

For a student or a researcher, knowledge undergoes a transformation process. Inspired by traditional Eastern scholarly methods, I built my vault around three phases. I call this the TTT Method in my native Turkish, but I will explain the functional logic so you can choose your own keywords.

Here is the 3-folder hierarchy that separates the Source from the Analysis and the Output:

:open_file_folder: 10 - TAHSİL (The Acquisition / Primary Sources)

In Turkish, “Tahsil” means to acquire or to receive education.

  • Function: Immutable Sources.

  • What goes here: Textbooks, Holy Books, Constitutions, Laws, Standard Documentation.

  • The Logic: This is the “Input” that we generally do not edit. We study from these. They are the foundation of our knowledge building.

:open_file_folder: 20 - TEFEKKÜR (The Context / Contemplation)

In Turkish, “Tefekkür” means deep reflection or systematic thinking to reveal meanings.

  • Function: The Laboratory / The Lens.

  • What goes here: Commentaries, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Academic Papers, Case Studies.

  • The Logic: These are the tools we use to understand the Sources (Level 10). They provide Context. A dictionary in this folder is a tool I use to decode a text in the previous folder.

:open_file_folder: 30 - TELİF (The Composition / Construction)

In Turkish, “Telif” implies “bringing parts together” to produce a work. I prefer this over “Creation” because, philosophically, we don’t create from nothing; we construct new ideas from the materials we gathered.

  • Function: The Synthesis / The Output.

  • What goes here: My Thesis, Essays, Project Notes, Articles.

  • The Logic: This is where the student becomes the master. After acquiring the Source (10) and analyzing it through Context (20), I construct my own work (30).

:light_bulb: The Core Philosophy: “Learn > Master > Produce”

Most systems suggest: Input > Process > Output.

This system suggests: Student > Critic > Author.

Why separate 10 and 20?

You might ask, “Why not put textbooks and articles in the same folder?”

Because Authority matters.

  • Level 10 is the “Text” (The thing being studied).

  • Level 20 is the “Commentary” (The discussion about the thing).

    Keeping them separate allows me to distinguish between “What the text says” and “What scholars say about it,” preventing my own thoughts (Level 30) from getting lost in the noise.

I hope this “Scholar’s Journey” approach helps those who find standard systems a bit too corporate for their academic or spiritual studies.

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I am curious about what your structure looks like inside the folders. In particular, the 30 folder. Do you keep it mostly flat? Or do you organize it based on output type?

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

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Hi Jeremiah,

I currently keep folder 30 mostly flat with simple numbering (01 Project A, 02 Project B…), as I don’t have a massive volume yet.

The Philosophy: 3 Libraries, Different Rules Think of these 3 folders (10-20-30) as Three Separate Libraries. You are the librarian, and you can organize the “shelves” in each room differently:

  • In Library 1 (10-Tahsil), you might arrange books by Topic (History/01 Ottoman Empire, Law/01 US Constitution, Theology/01 Quran) because they are static.

  • In Library 2 (20-Tefekkür), you might arrange them Alphabetically (A-Z) for quick lookup.

  • In Library 3 (30-Telif), you might arrange them by “Reading Order” or “Priority.”

My Internal Strategy:

  • For 10 (The Source): I use sub-folders (e.g., 10/History, 10/Law) because these categories reduce friction and rarely change.

  • For 30 (The Constructions): If you have a manageable volume (e.g., 40-50 files), you don’t need sub-folders.

The Power Move: Obsidian Bases instead of getting lost in folder structures for your projects (Folder 30), I recommend using the Obsidian Bases core plugin.

You can create a 00 System/Bases folder and place your .base views there.

  • You can create a Base View that filters all notes in 30 - Constructions.

  • You can sort them by status, priority, or date dynamically without moving the actual files.

This allows you to keep the folder structure simple while having a powerful, database-like overview.

We have a proverb in Turkish: “Every hero has their own way of eating yogurt” (meaning: everyone has a unique way of doing things). The system provides the structure (the room), but the method inside (the shelf layout) is entirely yours.

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