COVID - Positive Effects on Lifestyle

[wopphil]

Obviously this virus has sucked in so many ways, but there have been some positive impacts. I am curious how the lifestyle changes caused by the virus have positively impacted people. How has your life improved? For me:

- Diet - We have cooked/made almost everything we have eaten since March 13. We have had fast food only once since then. We are eating much better, and my wife has gone from a very good cook to a great cook.

- Exercise - I have exercised more this year than any year of my life. And once I don’t go into the office, I can stop work at 4:30/5:00 and exercise during this time of day (when my energy levels are highest and stress lowest).

- Money - We have not spent on vacations, preschool, restaurants, etc. We traded in my wife’s car two months ago and are in no rush to buy another one, since we don’t need two at the moment. 

-Family time - Working from home, I get to see the family way more. This has been nice.

- Home Improvement - We have had more time and money to work on our house. I built a back yard deck and we did our front landscaping.

When life finally returns to normal, I think I am going to struggle giving up some of these things. Diet and exercise will get more challenging, and we will be spending more money. 

[gotbeer]

Biggest positive thing that has come from the Rona.

It's practically gotten rid of those people who thinks they need to be 2 inches from you to talk to you.  Those hoverers/space invaders.

[ten ocho recon scout]

The memes on IG have gotten a boost this year for sure.

And yes to the money saved part. No bars and and no travel helped me save a ton of money. (Well, allowed me to waste it on other things). 

[Tank]

it's helped me to refine some of the materials i use in class since i have to retype darn near everything into google docs, and not everything translates into an online format like it was on paper. it's helped me to also thin the herd on what materials i've been using and whether or not i still need to use them. it's also pushed me to find some new videos for certain history topics, and those have been a big hit so far.

one of the things i'm looking forward to when we return to campus is no longer having sick kids in my room (we'll be required to do a temperature check once kids walk on to campus, and over a certain temp means that kid goes directly home). you wouldn't believe how many sick kids come to school, especially during cold and flu season. i'm downright giddy about this.

[arch stanton]

I've saved some money not commuting and it seems the people at work are a little less slovenly but other that pretty much everything about this sucks ass

[Tank]

we bought gas for our car last week, the first time we needed any since september.

[T.G.]

Saving more money for sure by not commuting, not eating out and not buying new clothes, etc.

I'm also watching more TV (streaming)... if that's a good thing...

[T.G.]

I’m also getting more sleep! 

[Taylor]

8 hours ago, Molly Jolly said:

we bought gas for our car last week, the first time we needed any since september.

I didn't know you owned a Prius.

[Adam]

Lighter traffic, less crowded golf courses, more free money from lenders

[wopphil]

1 hour ago, T.G. said:

I’m also getting more sleep! 

I forgot about this one. I am sleeping more as well. Not a lot, but perhaps 30 minutes a night. Enough to make a difference. 

[Justin]

I have exercised and read more than I had in well over a decade.

Also, although it's not particularly fun to wait in line to get into Trader Joe's, once you're inside, it's so nice to be able to shop with a limited-capacity crowd. I haven't had an 80-year-old woman ram her shopping cart into my achilles tendon in more than 8 months. 

[T.G.]

54 minutes ago, wopphil said:

I forgot about this one. I am sleeping more as well. Not a lot, but perhaps 30 minutes a night. Enough to make a difference. 

Since I'm not commuting, I'm getting a good 60-90 minutes more. It really makes a difference. When the weekend rolls around, I'm not exhausted from the week.

[Redondo]

1 hour ago, wopphil said:

I forgot about this one. I am sleeping more as well. Not a lot, but perhaps 30 minutes a night. Enough to make a difference. 

Getting extra sleep is huge no matter how small of a time.

[Blarg]

48 minutes ago, T.G. said:

Since I'm not commuting, I'm getting a good 60-90 minutes more. It really makes a difference. When the weekend rolls around, I'm not exhausted from the week.

My commute was reduced last December when our company moved from Santa Monica to Burbank. Even though I had been working from home in a limited way, the Santa Monica drive was never less than an hour each way and up to three if it was between 7-10am or 3-7 pm. Burbank is a much less demanding rush hour and now between limited access to the Warner building and dedicating more time to work from home I only commute once or twice a week. That's scaled down my drive time about 20 less hours a week. 

[Tank]

4 hours ago, T.G. said:

I'm also watching more TV (streaming)... if that's a good thing..

you're an american. of course it's a good thing.

[Angel Dog and Beer]

Definitely saving money by not going out to dinner and getting drinks or a bottle of wine. Amazing how that adds up. 

Working more from home, the extra time I get to spend with the kids is awesome. We'll take a break and shoot hoops, play catch, play cards, go on a bike ride. It's been fun. Makes me realize how much I miss during the week when they're in school and I'm in the office. Don't need to pay a babysitter either. 

Health wise, I guess I get outside and am active more often, although I snack way more while working from home. So its a wash. 

Working from home allowed me to watch baseball and other sporting events during the day. Was great to fully watch the first two rounds of the Masters. 

[Jason]

Wife is working from home so less miles on the car. I don’t like Hollywood pedophiles and elites so I’m glad they are hurting some. I haven’t watched a new movie in months and haven’t missed it at all

Edited November 17, 2020 by Jason

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

We've done more than our usual eating out or rather ordering in and chalk that up to supporting local businesses.  That said like many others in this thread we've come out ahead in the spending department because any traveling we've done has been local where as we normally do 1-2 bigger trips a year.  My commute wasn't bad but it's definitely nicer rolling out of bed and logging on to work.  With gyms and the like being closed more often than not the last 8 months I've been doing a lot more running and on days I don't run I do a walk.  I do it for exercise as much as I do to get out of the house.  Health wise I've put on about 5 lbs since this all started and I chalk that up to having a beer or two a few nights a week the last 3 months or so.  If my weight stays about the same I'll maintain the current course but if it continues to creep up I'll cut alcohol for a while.   

[Tank]

we haven't had any school shootings anywhere.

[Jason]

3 hours ago, Molly Jolly said:

we haven't had any school shootings anywhere.

And a shit load of guns and ammo being sold