Reviews

Review from Publishers Weekly

With brisk efficiency, Stack (Leave the Office Earlier) breezes through 21 factors affecting the energy or capacity to perform the myriad duties, obligations, responsibilities and activities of daily schedules. In an appealingly simple format, Stack breaks these factors into three categories: physiological (including diet, nutrition, sleep, exercise and metabolism), practices (attitude, relaxation, time management, etc.) and periphery (environment, relationships and stress level), and guides readers through three weeks of replacing energy bandits with corresponding energy boosters. Her health advice focuses on maximum results in little time; her cures for major energy drains (cigarettes, caffeine, electronic devices, workaholism, perfectionism and procrastination, for example) are practical, and her perspectives on stressful home and workplace relationships are refreshing. She helps readers distinguish between status quo tasks and more fulfilling ones that move them forward, and makes a strong case for focusing rather than multitasking. While her just do it approach may not work for everyone, it just might help many clear a path to realizing their dreams. (May)

Laura Stack provides a ton of practical techniques for keeping energy up in our time-starved era. I love this book because it is easy to reference and fun to read!

If you're feeling tired, overwhelmed and ready for change, The Exhaustion Cure is packed with realistic strategies for taking better care of your most important asset: you. You will refer to it again and again in your journey to a more energetic life.

Stack divides her advice into 21 key areas and discusses practices or attitudes that either suck the energy out of you (her "energy bandits") or prime the pump and get you going at peak performance (her "energy boosters"). Topics covered: Sleep habits, diet, nutrition, exercise, pacing (as in "hectic work pace"), health, relaxation, resolution and state of mind, responsibilities (as in "saying no"), time management, learning/creativity, your environment (i.e., lighting and stale air), relationships, stress--from spouse or traffic or the kids, technology, purpose, workplace.

In short, Stack's philosophy seems to be if you're exhausted all the time, anything and everything--including what's between your ears--could be the culprit.

After reading her book, I'm convinced. Solid research studies back up her claims, and personal examples from her family life make her advice practical. When you buy this book, expect to change more than a few bad habits. Highly recommended.

Author and narrator Laura Stack speaks like a caring coach with an investment in making you feel energetic. Stack offers tons of helpful tips for combating the chronic exhaustion that plagues our modern day culture. Stack's book covers a wide array of "energy bandits" and is a helpful way to identify what exactly is contributing to exhaustion. She covers lots of the basics, such as sleep problems and diet concerns. But she also dives into more complex topics such as how our emotional lives, and destructive emotions, can lead to exhaustion. This book is a great place to start if you feel chronically fatigued. It will help you identify what exactly is draining your life energy. Stack's successfully uses easy to understand metaphors and images to help listeners visualize the concepts she discusses. The Exhaustion Cure is not meant to be a book on the clinical disease of chronic fatigue syndrome- an illness that usually cannot be solved with behavior modification alone. Nevertheless, stress always negatively contributes to chronic fatigue syndrome so Stack's suggestions are helpful for stress reduction in chronic fatigue patients. Stacks has the right level of enthusiasm to her voice. Her positive outlook and energetic reading of this book will inspire listeners to work on regaining their own life energy.

The Exhaustion Cure is just the guidance I was looking for. Laura Stack makes it very easy to define what exactly is bringing down your energy level by the helpful introductory "energy drain and boosters" brainstorming list. This list allowed me to take the time to identify EXACTLY what the causes of my lack of energy are and how to renew that energy by using my "energy boosters"! Laura also provides a quiz at the beginning of the book to help identify your "total energy quotient", which I can personally say was no where near what I had expected! This quiz opened my eyes to the sort of denial I had been in with how much energy I was truly lacking.

Each chapter is clearly defined and easy to follow. Laura makes this book easy to pick up time and time again, almost as a workbook, to guide you through the processes of gaining more energy and a better quality of life.

I have been through my share of "self-help", "fitness" and "wellness" books and Laura Stack combines the characteristics of all three into one successful book that I will be using for many years to come.

I have become a fan of Stack's and recommend (in addition to The Exhaustion Cure) her book, "Find More Time", to anyone who seeks to become more productive in their personal lives and to enjoy the things in life that truly matter.