MacBook Pro M1 Incredibly laggy, slow and buggy since 12.4 Monterey update

I put off updating to Monterey for as long as possible due to concerns that it may cause more problems than it fixes. Unfortunately though, my m1 was suffering from purple screen restarts each morning after waking up. So, I thought that perhaps having waited as long as I had, Monterey might be ready and could potentially fix the purple screen restart issue I was seeing.

Thankfully, after updating to Monterey 12.4 the purple screen restart issue has been fixed however, I am noticing a HUGE decrease in performance. The computer is delayed, locks up and seems generally slow and buggy.

If watching YouTube for example, out of nowhere the audio will distort and crackle and the playback will freeze while the system seemingly catches up with itself. If browsing multiple tabs, the system constantly locks up and freezes (keep in mind, this is the same browser workflow I was using without issue prior to the update).

I have tried NVRAM and PRAM resets etc as well as decluttering, freeing up HDD (have 120gb free currently) and all other suggested fixes with no improvement.

Suddenly, my efficient speedy M1 Mac is just as fast and efficient as my 2013 intel MacBook Pro and plagued with similar slow downs and issues that caused me to upgrade in the first place.

Hoping someone has advice to address this as it is very frustrating.

Please note, I am hesitant to rollback the update in case I am faced with the purple screen restart issue I was having prior to updating.