I am Manny Becker.

I write field notes on attention, work, and the small repairs that pull focus back from the screen.

What this is

Manny Focus is an irregular series of long-form field notes. Each one starts with a problem I had — a screen habit, a deadline that nearly broke me, a year I spent doing the wrong kind of work — and ends with the specific repair that got me out of it. Not productivity advice in the morning-routine sense. More like a craftsman writing about which tools and fences he uses in his shop.

What I review

I only write about a tool, service, or system after I have used it for at least 30 days as part of how I actually work. Most things get 60 days or longer before I write about them. Several products and services have been written about in private notebooks but not on this site because I could not honestly say I would still use them next month.

Some field notes are sponsored. When they are, you will see the dark "sponsored" strip across the top of the page, a kicker tag above the article title with the word "Sponsored," and a dark sponsor box inside the article. If those three signals are not present, the note is unsponsored and there is no commercial relationship between me and the things mentioned.

Who I am

I am 42, white, originally from the Midwest, currently in the Pacific Northwest. I work in adjacent fields that mostly involve thinking and writing. I have been working from the same wooden desk since 2018. I do not have a podcast and I am not on the major social platforms by choice.

What I'm not

Not a therapist. Not a productivity coach. Not a financial advisor. I am one person writing in public about the work practices that have held up under load.