EtreCheckReport analysis

On quick look ...

First problem, you are effectively out of disk space. I suggest removing at least 50GB of user data.

Second problem, you have only 8GB RAM; you have apps that are quite demanding; and you may be running too many at the same time.

Additional problems - unnecessary apps and/or they consume system resources

Nord VPN Threat Protection

AppCleaner

ChatGPT.app - 16GB RAM minimum is suggested for this

Google Chrome

Recent installs (done about a month ago, about the time you said problems started)

ExpressVPN

Zoom

NordVPN

R 4.5.1 - unclear what this is

While your MBAir is a nice machine, it is underpowered for what you appear to be using it for.

If you do not have a recent local, disk-based backup, your computer is like a ticking Time bomb. You are only one disk failure, one mainboard failure, one crazy software, or one "oops" away from losing EVERYTHING! Drives do not last forever. It is not a question of IF it will fail, only WHEN it will fail. In addition, you never know when crazy software or Pilot Error throws away far more than you intended.

If you are using another direct-to-disk backup method that you prefer, and you currently have a recent disk-based backup, that is great. If not, you should consider using Built-in Time Machine. Take steps to acquire an external drive as soon as possible. If you buy one, a drive 2 to 3 times or larger than your boot drive is preferable for long term trouble-free operation. Do not pay extra for a drive that is fast.  (You can get by for a while with a "found" smaller drive if necessary, but it will eventually become annoying).

Attach your external drive and use

Settings > General > Time machine ...

... to turn on Time Machine and specify what drive to store your Backups on.  It may ask to initialize the new drive, and that is as expected. APFS format is default format if running MacOS 11 Big Sur or later.

Time machine works quietly and automatically in the background, without interrupting your regular work, and only saves the incremental changes (after the first full backup). Time machine backs up your machine — including every connected drive that is in a Mac compatible format. it can not back up Windows format drives.

Time Machine's "claim to fame" is that it is the backup that gets done. It does not ruin performance of the rest of the computer while doing its backup operations. You do not have to set aside a "Special Time" when you only do backups. When you need it, your Time machine Backup is much more likely to be there and be current.

How to use Time Machine to Backup or Restore your Mac:

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

To reiterate what MartinR said, if I may, low disk space is an obvious reason for your Mac to be extremely slow - and may end up even worse, in lost data.

Always strive to keep at least some 15-20% free on any drive, and especially the system drive, which is used constantly by the OS to write stuff. A full drive is not something you want.

All the other points are valid too, but the very first and serious problem is low disk space.

[in my opinion] 8GB of real RAM is not enough to run Ventura or later in an appropriately responsive way. Apple no longer sells ANY Apple-silicon Mac with only 8GB or real RAM, because that is simply not enough.

If you want to keep using those Apps, you will have to change the way you work, and rather dramatically. You will need to QUIT each App before you open the next, and plan on restarting often, multiple times throughout the day.

Or obtain a computer that better meets your needs.

How much free space do you have now? Note that "available" is not the same as "free".

Are you running a beta version now?

If the answer is yes, then we can't help. Forum rules forbid even discussing beta versions; use the proper feedback channels.

If the answer is no, then that's not it. You are running a release version of the OS and previous versions would not have an impact.