People living in Seoul spent more time sleeping and using media and less time working than usual during the coronavirus pandemic last year, a recent survey conducted by the Seoul city government showed.
 
According to the poll by the Seoul Metropolitan Government with 1,000 Seoul residents aged 18 to 69, those in Seoul worked five hours and 19 minutes on average a day in 2020, down 12 minutes from 2019.
 
As the nationwide social distancing campaign has kept people at home longer, they spent four more minutes (two hours and two minutes) doing housework and nine minutes more sleeping (six hours and 47 minutes) compared to 2019. However, those surveyed spent 12 minutes less on personal grooming.
 
Their average travel time was one hour and one minute last year, down eight minutes from the previous year.
 
People had 19 minutes more spare time on average, with time mostly spent consuming media such as via YouTube and Netflix or playing online games.
 
Those aged between 18 and 20 and those in their 60s spent noticeably more time watching television or streaming media, while those in their 40s spent particularly more time playing online games.
 
Only 20 minutes a day was spent on cultural activities and traveling in 2020, down from 31 minutes in 2019.
 
Daily routines were affected most by the COVID-19 pandemic among those aged 18-29 as well as those in their 40s, the unemployed, self-employed and stay-at-home mothers, the survey showed.
 
More than half of respondents -- 51.9 percent -- said that their biggest struggle during the pandemic was a sense of anxiety about getting infected with COVID-19, followed by virus restrictions such as social distancing (42.6 percent).
 
People also discovered new pleasures in their daily lives, with 40 percent citing media activities and 28.5 percent enjoying taking a stroll in the neighborhood.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)