Here in my relatively isolated part of Tennessee, I’ve been doing the social distancing thing for about four weeks now. While my daily life has shifted drastically, I’m very lucky that I continue to have a steady salary, have not contracted the coronavirus, and have not lost any loved ones to COVID-19. I acknowledge that I write this post from a place of significant privilege, and my heart goes out to the many, many people who are suffering terribly because of the pandemic.

For the fortunate folks like myself, I think it helps to look on the bright side as much as possible. Adapting to this new (temporary) normal was challenging, and several weeks ago, I felt a lot of fear and anxiety. But I’ve settled into my current way of life, and it’s really not so bad. There are things that I miss, of course, but there are also significant secondary benefits to social distancing. In this series of posts, I’ll highlight some of the good things, as I see them. (I’m taking these a few at a time because finding the quiet time and focused energy to write long blog posts is is difficult now that I’m working from home with a toddler.)

• I get to see my son more. Having a two-year-old in the house while I’m working can be a bit distracting at times, but it is so nice to be able to see him throughout the day. I can have lunch with him, which I could never do while working at the office because his daycare was too far away and my lunch time overlapped with his nap time. I’m able to take a quick break to give him a hug and see what he’s doing. I can spend more time with him in the morning before I start working because I’m not rushing to get ready and get out the door. I feel closer to him thanks to these added moments of contact throughout the day. He also seems to enjoy having me around even though we aren’t spending all our time together.

• I’m enjoying my house. Before having my son, I was rarely at home. I was always out doing things — I spent my free time socializing, eating out, going to the gym, volunteering, or doing any number of other things away from my house. I started spending more time at home once my son was born, but we still spent most of our waking hours out and about. It’s kind of crazy to think that my home is my largest financial investment by far, yet I wasn’t even actively using it that much, let alone truly enjoying it. Now, I’m here nearly all the time. I’ve become better acquainted with this place that I inhabit — the house itself, the grounds, the neighborhood. My appreciation of certain of its features has grown, and I’ve noted things that need to be repaired and ways that I could make this space work better for me and my family.

• My sleep patterns have largely realigned with my natural circadian rhythms. Without my morning commute, grooming time, and daycare drop-off, my mornings have become much more streamlined. I can sleep an hour to an hour and a half later now than I used to. I’ve tried getting up at the usual time to get in some work before my son wakes up, but I found that to be a useless exercise — I just wake him up and don’t get any extra work done anyway. So I’ve decided to embrace the later, more relaxed mornings. I don’t need to use an alarm clock anymore. I wake naturally at around the same time every morning. I go to bed later than I used to as well. I still get about the same amount of sleep, but the cycle has shifted later. I am finding that this makes me feel a lot better, mentally and physically. My mood and focus are both improved. I occasionally use my lunch break to take a nap, which is particularly helpful right now in light of the fatigue and interrupted nighttime sleep accompanying pregnancy. Napping allows me to be more productive in the afternoon and to do some work in the evenings after I put my son to bed. Normally, I’d be too tired to do anything mentally taxing at that time of day. The new sleeping patterns into which I’ve fallen closely mimic the ones I had in college and law school, when my schedule was more flexible. Then, too, I tended to go to bed around 11 or 12, wake around 7 or 8, and I often napped during the day. It’s nice to be able to follow these natural rhythms again for a while.

Have you noticed any secondary benefits of social distancing? Share them in the comments, and stay tuned for Part II in this series.