Few people think about the impact their daily routine has on themselves, or even the planet. But the small actions — from what you eat for breakfast to how you commute to work — are having an effect. 

Urban Design and Planning doctoral student Xiao Shi has long been interested in the small and large impacts of people’s daily routines. That’s why when the COVID-19 pandemic caused a huge disruption in the routines of people and cities, Shi and a team of fellow researchers from the UW and Puget Sound Regional Council began studying the outcomes on mental health, productivity and the environment. 

“You don’t even notice it,” she said, of people’s daily routines. “It’s something that’s going on unconsciously for a lot of people, but it will have a great impact on physical and mental well-being.”

Shi and the team conducted a survey back in May of 2020 of more than 4,000 people in Washington state, to see how people’s productivity and mental health were faring several weeks into quarantine. They found that more than half of people reported negative mental health outcomes during this time, from depression to fear to feelings of tension.