Hey there!
While you would need a newer Mac to run more recent versions of macOS than macOS Monterey, you may be able to increase the performance and responsiveness of your Mac.
If you're interested, to start, share a screenshot of your Mac’s storage information. In the Finder, choose Go > Utilities, then double-click the Disk Utility icon. (Disk Utility is located in the /Applications/Utilities folder.) Alternatively, click Launchpad in the Dock, type Disk Utility in the search field, then click the Disk Utility icon. Once Disk Utility is open, take a screenshot of the information it automatically opens to, which will be your startup disk. Next, select View > Show All Devices in Disk Utility and select the non-indented disk entry—it’s at the top of the hierarchy. Then, take a screenshot of the newly selected entry. Upload all screenshots here.
Finally, let us know what antivirus, VPN, or cleaning software you have installed.
-Jack