The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on daily rhythms

Abstract

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted daily activity rhythms and life routines with people adjusting to new work schedules, exercise routines, sleep patterns, and other everyday life activities. In this work, we investigate the temporal changes of multiple daily activity rhythms and life routines throughout the course of the pandemic and highlight the disproportional changes amongst subgroups of a large cohort of working adults. Understanding the dynamics of these changes and their impacts on different groups of people is essential for creating environments where people's lives and well-being are least disturbed during such circumstances. Materials and MethodsStarting in June 2021, we conducted a year-long study to collect highresolution data from fitness trackers as well as answers to monthly questionnaires from 128 working adults. By the end of the study, we collected over 800k data points of step count from fitness trackers and over 48k data points from answers to monthly questionnaires. Using questionnaires at different time points, we investigate how routines of