What Are You Building This Week? A Look at Developer Productivity and Side Projects

The weekly "What are you doing this week?" thread on Lobsters represents a fascinating microcosm of developer culture and work-life balance in the tech industry. This simple question, posed by user caius just an hour ago, has already sparked reflection on how we approach our work, our side projects, and our personal time.

At its core, this thread embodies the collaborative spirit of the developer community. Unlike traditional workplace environments where progress updates might feel like bureaucratic overhead, these voluntary check-ins create a space for genuine sharing and mutual encouragement. Developers can celebrate wins, commiserate over challenges, and find inspiration in what others are building.

What's particularly interesting is the explicit acknowledgment that "it's OK to do nothing at all, too." This recognition cuts against the pervasive "hustle culture" that often dominates tech circles, where developers feel pressured to constantly be building, learning, or shipping something. The pressure to always be productive can lead to burnout, and this simple statement creates psychological safety for those who need rest or are dealing with life's inevitable challenges.

Looking at similar threads on other platforms reveals common patterns in how developers structure their weeks. Many share a mix of:

• Professional work: Feature development, bug fixes, code reviews, and meetings that make up the bulk of paid development work
• Side projects: Personal applications, open source contributions, or experimental technologies that fuel passion and learning
• Learning and skill development: Online courses, documentation reading, or exploring new frameworks and languages
• Community involvement: Contributing to open source, helping others on forums, or participating in hackathons
• Personal time: Explicitly acknowledging the need for rest, family time, or simply stepping away from the keyboard

The timing of these weekly check-ins also matters. Monday mornings or Sunday evenings tend to be popular, serving as natural bookends for planning and reflection. This rhythm helps developers maintain momentum while also providing regular opportunities to reassess priorities and adjust course.

From a productivity perspective, these public commitments can serve as powerful motivators. The simple act of declaring intentions to a community creates accountability, even if that accountability is informal. However, this can also create pressure to appear productive, which is why the "it's OK to do nothing" caveat is so important.

What's missing from many of these discussions, however, is the reality of interruptions and context switching. Developers rarely have uninterrupted weeks where they can focus solely on planned tasks. Meetings, urgent bug reports, and unexpected requirements frequently derail even the best-laid plans. The most honest weekly updates often include these realities, creating a more authentic picture of what development work actually looks like.

For those participating in these threads, several strategies emerge for making the most of the practice:

• Be specific but flexible: Share concrete goals while acknowledging that priorities may shift
• Include context: Mention what you're learning or why you're building something, not just what you're building
• Celebrate progress: Share completed work from previous weeks to maintain momentum
• Be honest about challenges: Don't just share successes; discuss what's blocking you or where you're stuck
• Engage with others: Ask questions, offer help, and build connections within the community

The "What are you doing this week?" format also reflects broader questions about how we measure developer productivity. Traditional metrics like lines of code or tickets closed often miss the mark, while more nuanced approaches consider learning, collaboration, and long-term impact. These weekly check-ins provide a more holistic view of developer work that includes both tangible outputs and the less visible aspects of the job.

As the tech industry continues to evolve, with remote work becoming more common and the boundaries between work and personal life increasingly blurred, these community rituals take on new importance. They provide structure, connection, and a sense of shared purpose that can be harder to find in distributed teams.

Whether you're planning an ambitious week of feature development, taking time to learn a new technology, or simply acknowledging that you need rest, the act of sharing your intentions creates a moment of reflection and connection. In a field that often moves at breakneck speed, these pauses to check in with ourselves and our community might be just as valuable as the code we write.

So what are you doing this week? The answer, whatever it is, is worth sharing.