"Putting all this pressure and stress on myself, it's incredibly counterproductive," said Ms. Ulstrup. "I'm putting stress on myself during a time that's already stressful."

Adam Hasham, 40, a product manager in Washington, said that it's only a matter of time before more people realize that self-optimization in this time is futile. "I stopped seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," he said, adding that his optimism about the situation had "gone out the window."