What are you doing this week?

It has been reported that Lobsters users kicked off a simple prompt: what are you doing this week? The post — brief, open-ended, inviting — encouraged replies and reminded people that it's OK to do nothing at all. Small. Human. Somehow it landed like a much-needed permission slip in a world that treats busyness as a badge.

Community pulse

Replies, as one might expect, ran the gamut. There were mentions of programming sprints, bug triage, and side projects burbling away in evenings. Others leaned into learning: new languages, OS internals, documentation overhauls. And then there was the quieter countercurrent — folks saying they plan to rest, read, or spend time with family. It felt less like a status update and more like a communal check-in. Who hasn’t wanted a watercooler moment in a remote-first era?

Why it matters

Why should a tiny forum thread get any airtime? Because rituals like this do real work: they normalize ordinary rhythms, lower the noise around productivity theater, and give permission to pick up or put down tools without shame. In an industry noisy with hustle porn and urgent deadlines, a single line — “I’m doing nothing this week” — can read like rebellion. It’s a little cultural moment: solidarity over spaghetti code and Sunday afternoon naps alike.

What are you doing this week? Go on — tell someone. It might be the most useful thing you do.

Sources: Lobsters