Hi, I’m Manuel.

I’ve always found comfort in structure. Over the years I’ve built systems to keep track of projects, ideas, and thoughts, first out of necessity, later out of curiosity.

What started as a way to stay organized at work turned into a deeper interest in how we think, learn, and manage information.

When I came across concepts like Getting Things Done, Personal Knowledge Management, and the Second Brain, it all started to make sense. Productivity, I realized, isn’t about doing more. It’s about creating space for what matters.

Why I Write

In a world of endless input, I wanted peace of mind.

I needed a place where everything I learn and think about is easy to find again, a system that works quietly in the background instead of adding more noise.

Over time I’ve seen many people lose themselves in their systems. They spend hours documenting, linking, and organizing, but never come back to what they wrote. The system grows until it becomes a burden - too complex to use, too heavy to maintain, and with little value left.

That’s where the idea for A Pragmatic Mind comes from.

My approach is to keep things as simple and practical as possible. A system should help you act, not slow you down. It should make your life lighter, not heavier.

This blog is where I share what that looks like in practice: how to build systems that stay small, useful, and sustainable.

What You’ll Find Here

This site is organised around three simple ideas: thinking better, working better, and learning better in a complex world.

Thinking better means understanding how we make decisions, how we focus, and how we reason about what matters.

Working better is about building systems that support action and clarity, without turning productivity into an end in itself.

Learning better focuses on capturing and using knowledge in ways that stay useful over time, instead of becoming another source of complexity.

Sometimes this involves adapting frameworks like GTD or PARA to modern tools. Not as rigid systems, but as pragmatic starting points shaped by real work and real life.

I’m not here to teach the right way.

I’m sharing what has proven useful for me: practical, tested, and imperfect.

Let’s Connect

If you’re exploring similar questions or just curious about bringing more clarity into your digital life, I’d love to hear from you.

You can always reach me by email.