There’s supposedly a silver lining to every cloud, but silver linings are sometimes hard to see while you’re in the middle of a crisis. When schools are closed and you’re out of work or forced to work from home, it can feel as though your world’s been turned upside down.

There are challenges when the children are around while you’re trying to get work done, when your favorite stores are closed, and you can’t get a haircut. The silver lining is that when a crisis presses the pause button on your life, you can try to use that pause productively. Here are five positive habits you might develop during a health crisis.

Conservation

When you can’t – or don’t want to – go to the store as often as you’re accustomed to, one result is trying to conserve what you have at home, especially if there’s a shortage.

Conservation might mean using less toilet paper or re-using lightly soiled napkins or paper plates. It could mean, even with more frequent hand-washing, using less soap per wash. Even if it’s just subconsciously, you might be using less of limited resources.

This could develop into a habit of conservation that lasts after the emergency is over, which could be good for your wallet and perhaps for the environment.

Cooking at home

When there are more people at home all the time, and perhaps dining out isn’t an option, you’re likely to cook more meals in your own kitchen. If you’re a good cook and enjoy it, that’s a good thing. If not, maybe social distancing can be an opportunity to learn and improve culinary skills.

Meals at home are typically less expensive than dining out, and they can be healthier, too. Developing your cooking skills, and maybe even teaching your children some recipes, can be a lasting benefit of self-isolation.

Frugality

The generation that lived through the Great Depression is generally thought of as being less wasteful and more frugal. When money is tight and you’re forced to tighten your belt, that frugality kind of stays with you.

If you can’t visit your favorite upscale department store or restaurant anymore, you’ll have to learn to live without it. If you make the effort, maybe learning to live through lean times will be a plus for your pocketbook when the tide turns.

Time with family

If you’re a parent who suddenly finds yourself working exclusively from home, there will probably be some frustrating moments if children are home. But spending all that time together might force you to come up with some creative ways to pass time.

Maybe you’ll have more family game or movie nights. Maybe you can spend time with your children writing letters to elderly family members whom they might not see during a crisis. Family craft parties, book clubs or home improvement projects might be things that could be established as lasting traditions.

Cleanliness

If you’re cognizant of washing your hands more during a health crisis, it’s possible you will continue the positive habit afterward. It’s not the worst habit to have.

They don’t cause as much panic, but seasonal influenza, common colds, and strep throat can be transmitted through touching tainted surfaces, then touching your face before washing your hands. Ingraining hand-washing in children now might also help them stay healthier for the rest of their lives.

Amid concerning times that seem to affect an entire planet, it can be hard to be optimistic, to see any positives in the sea of negatives. But if some of what are now forced behaviors can be developed into beneficial habits when life returns to normal, you will have taken some good out of the trying times.