The Fatigue Prescription

The DailyOM reviews The Fatigue Prescription!
April 6, 2013


Dr. Linda Clever has developed a do-it-yourself tool kit with The Fatigue Prescription, based on years of medical practice, life experience, and the success of RENEW. Filled with easy self-assessments, informational charts, and sound advice from a physician who healed herself, this book will help you avoid illness, reset priorities, and most importantly, regain your health and happiness.

Are you living your to-do list rather than living your life? Many of us run from task to task and are burning the nearly non-existent candle at both ends. We are sleep-deprived, overworked, overwhelmed, and undernourished in body and soul. We slam energy drinks, gnaw energy bars, and constantly drink caffeine to keep going as our adrenal glands struggle to keep up. Most of us are one health crisis away from financial devastation—and yet, we are hurtling towards physical breakdown each over-scheduled day. Our lives demand too much of us; when everything is a priority, this can make us sick and tired. Dr. Clever discovered the personal cost of this lifestyle and has since devoted herself to helping people renew themselves and regain balance in life.

Simple, but effective!, October 31, 2012
Review by E. Smith

Sometimes we get so stressed out that we need someone to remind us to take a walk, or a nap, or a deep breath, or get some rest or have a hot cup of tea. The Fatigue Prescription acts as that person in our lives. Instead of providing all the answers, Dr. Clever walks readers through remembering what gets them through the bad times, whether that's a chat with a friend, a massage, or a favorite meal. I like the book's workbook-style approach--it gets you up and actually DOING instead of just thinking about how you can fix your fatigue, and as simple as it is, that's what's important!

A personalized, customizable approach to everyday stress management
Review by Scarlet -- September 28, 2012

Set up in the style of a workbook, The Fatigue Prescription takes into account all aspects of health. Clever lives up to her name with sections on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being; she provides tips on how to not just get through, but actually enjoy, everyday life. There are countless lists and charts that the reader is supposed to fill in with their own ideas, habits, and thoughts, making the book fully customizable and remarkably personal. It might seem silly to have a guide for everyday activities, but trust me- this book is both interesting and helpful for any person who lives a stressful lifestyle.

REVIEW from New Thought Magazine

The author, a Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF and founder of RENEW, provides a straight-forward guide to taking care of your whole self. Her book is filled with tips, self-assessment guides, and practical wisdom leading to the creating of a healthy and meaningful life. Random chapter titles are: Inclinations You Are Born With: Your Inheritance; Your Attitude Checkup; Reaping Benefits Requires Risks; How Values Work; What Do You Really Want?; Spirituality and Religion; You've Got Attitude; Making Good Choices; and Contending with Fear, Anger, and Procrastination.

Larry Dossey, MD states, "If you are tired of the army of health experts and their bewilderingly complex ever-changing advice, The Fatigue Prescription is for you. In this practical crystal-clear book, Dr. Linda Hawes Clever maps a solid plan that will increase your zest and fulfillment in life."

Tina Deville's review Jan 24, 12

For a subject as downbeat as this, this delightful book is upbeat, easy to read and quite matter-of-fact. Indeed, there's no magic cure here, nothing arcane, but a series of practical, common-sense tips on life management -- ordinary things like sleep, diet, exercise, health management, lifestyle. If anything, it's a gathering of these methods into a systematic approach to one's life and activity.

Maria's review Sep 14, 11

This book is not like a prescription for antibiotics, where you get the pills, take them, and get better. It's more like a prescription for physical therapy, where you go to an appointment, the therapist does some work on you, some of it painful, and then you go home and have exercises you must do yourself.

It's not a book to read cover-to-cover in a few sittings. It's more like a workbook. Read a section or a chapter, reflect on it, answer the questions, talk about it with your support system.

Some of it is obvious. You're tired? Get more sleep, relax more, don't over-commit. But there are ideas of what to do to relax, what you might need to change to get more sleep, how you can keep yourself from over-committing.

If you've been working on this at all, then there might not be anything new in this book for you. But if you're just about to embark on self-renewal, then this book might be just the guide you need.

Krista's review Feb 02, 10

When I was 22, I went to the Caribbean to teach. A year of working against my American instincts and I was finally rested, happy and deprogrammed. This book is a cheaper version of a trip to the Caribbean. Dr. Clever uses a mix of the things that everyone knows are for their own good, (but doesn't do) and some new suggestions. Clever, what a great name for an author.

July 14, 2011 - Review by Dr. Nancy O’Reilly, PsyD
Founder of WomenSpeak.com, Author of Timeless Women Speak

Dr. Linda Hawes Clever’s book, The Fatigue Prescription, gives useful tools for living your best life. Her simple steps, her emphasis on remembering your values, and getting input from the people we admire all provide guidance to help us keep a firm grip on our passion and purpose. We are grateful for the work of this amazing woman doctor and look forward to more insightful prescriptions to keep us full of good health and vitality.

July 2011 -- from Lynnis Woods-Mullins, CEO & Founder of PraiseWorks Health and Wellness

“Your book is so chock full of information. It’s easy to understand, it’s easy to assimilate
and it’s easy to do in everyday life. The Fatigue Prescription puts it all together so we can organize ourselves and our thoughts. I carry it in my purse and I’ve read it three times.”

July 2011
Widows Wear Stilletos Choose The Fatigue Prescription!

The Widows Wear Stilletos support group is featuring The Fatigue Prescription as their Book of the Month.

"Dr. Linda Hawes Clever has come to the rescue with 'The Fatigue Prescription' (Viva Editions) Using two of Carole's favorite tools (quizzes and journaling), Dr. Clever helps you get to the root(s) of all possible types of your fatigue, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, mental or a combination of the four. Once you have identified the area(s) in which you are experiencing fatigue, Dr. Clever gives amazing ideas, tips and recommendations to help you go "from tired and wired to healthy and calm".

Carole says, "One of my favorite passages from the book that just jumped off of the page at me stated, ''Busyness' can be a great anesthetic, but it is only temporary and doesn't deal with the source of the pain'. I know that 'busyness' was one of my crutches in the early stages of my own Healing Journey and I know many widow/ers who fall into the same trap. This book is wonderful for anyone who wants to get out of the 'I'm so tired' mindset, but it is absolutely essential for anyone who is or has gone through the widowhood experience".

http://www.widowswearstilettos.com/tips_of_the_month.htm

June 20, 2011

Julie Clayton of New Consciousness Review on "The Fatigue Prescription" -

This is yet another practical guide for taking care of ourselves in mind, body and spirit, that identifies four steps for "renewing your energy, health and life." It is nicely laid out and easy to follow and relate to. Within this genre of self-improvement books that essentially skim the surface of consciousness, it holds its own and will no doubt reach the people who will most benefit from it.

http://www.ncreview.com/the-fatigue-prescription-four-steps-to-renewing-your-energy-health-and-life

From Dr. Richard Blake's blog (drblakeshealingsole.com)-- June 5, 2011

FATIGUED?? OVERWORKED?? NO TIME FOR FRIENDS??

The Medical Board of California is encouraging overworked physicians, like myself, to read a good book entitled: The Fatigue Prescription: Four Steps To Renewing Your Energy, Health, and Life by Dr Linda Hawes Clever. After some review, and after personally failing the Renew-O-Meter, I felt it probably applies to a lot of my readers also. Please look at the 2 links below and take the test to see where you stand. If you are recovering from an injury, you need to get some balance back into your life to heal well. If you have upcoming surgery, you will need some balance to handle the demands on your life. If your kids are growing older, and you are only watching from a distance, renew now!!! If you are planning an important event in one or two years that will consume a lot of your time and energy, get in balance now. Hope someone, maybe even me, is helped by Dr Clever's thoughts.

http://www.thefatigueprescription.com/
http://www.renewnow.org/

This is not a typical self help book., September 18, 2010
By SKP

The Fatigue Prescription is a personalized, user-friendly and practical guide to renewal and fulfillment. The tools provided will take you on an encouraging and insightful journey of self discovery that is affirming, validating and rejuvenating.

Nurture the energy of life in you, June 1, 2010
From "Sacramento Book Review" (Sacramento, CA) - by Dominique James

Our lives are more packed than ever. Almost 40% of Americans work more than 50 hours per week, and when we're not working we're getting to or from work or shuttling our kids to and from their commitments. Then there are the housekeeping, bills, exercise, emails, voicemails, texts, and finally finding the time to wolf down some food and, if we're lucky, read a book and get a decent night's sleep. As a nation, we are sleep-deprived, overworked, overwhelmed and undernourished in body and soul. It's gotten to the point when we are too busy to figure out how to be less busy.

There's a real downside to all this hustle and bustle. It wears on us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Over the long haul it simply wears us down. That's why there's Dr. Linda Clever's "The Fatigue Prescription: Four Steps To Renewing your Energy, Health, and Life". There are numerous books explaining why relaxation, exercise, sleep, and reflection are important. But few of them deliver a step-by-step program for tackling the fatigue that is endemic in our modern lives.

"The Fatigue Prescription" describes remedies to our routine of "over-whelm" and "under-joy." Dr. Clever listened to thousands of people who wanted to lift up their lives and thousands more who already have. She has developed four critical steps for refilling our energy buckets: awareness, reflection, conversation, and plan-and-act. But the book is more than a list of techniques, it's also a workbook. Using facts, stories and important questions, it encourages us to dig deeper and live a life authentic to our own values. "The Fatigue Prescription" helps us track the critical choices we make every day, that lead to fatigue; and gives tangible advice on how to alter those ingrained habits. For a healthier, calmer, and more purposeful life - without being a hermit -"The Fatigue Prescription" can show the way.

Practical, easy to apply, May 14, 2010
By Clinical Psychologist (San Francisco, CA)

Dr Linda Clever's Fatigue Prescription is as useful as it is engaging and entertaining.

As a clinical psychologist who has read many self help books over the years, I recommend Fatigue Prescription as a book full of fun and practical suggestions for facing reality. Her writing style kept me using her helpful checklists by creatively interspersing humorous,apt items.

Her personal sharing of her own ups and downs added credibility to her recommendations. The reader knows Dr Clever has lived the heights and depths and has persevered with style and grace.

A Self-Help Classic by Someone Who Has Been There, April 22, 2010
By Robert O. Pasnau, M.D.(Los Angeles, California)

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is right on target with a step by step approach of outlining the challenges and suggesting strategies for coping with and modifying them. My background is forty-plus years as a psychiatrist, treating medical students and physicians. I have served on the diversion committee of the Medical Board of California, chair of the UCLA Committee on Physician Health, and Assistant Dean of Students heading up the Mental Health Services for Physicians in Training. These experiences have taught me how difficult it is to help doctors help themselves. This book is really a work book, meant to be scribbled in, reread, and thought about. It is funny, clever, and very practical. While it is not solely for physicians, the content is based on Dr. Clever's 20 year experience working with fellow doctors. There are two tables of self-help books in my local bookstore. This is one of the best I have read.

Practical and upbeat, April 15, 2010
By Robert D. Harmon "bobnbob3" (Mill Valley, CA)

For a subject as downbeat as this, this delightful book is upbeat, easy to read and quite matter-of-fact. Indeed, there's no magic cure here, nothing arcane, but a series of practical, common-sense tips on life management -- ordinary things like sleep, diet, exercise, health management, lifestyle. If anything, it's a gathering of these methods into a systematic approach to one's life and activity. And, underneath the chatty prose, there seems to have been a formidable amount of research and peer review, judging by her notes and bibliography.

Highly recommend.

Great advice, March 25, 2010
By Susan A. Louiseau (San Francisco)

At the age of 67, I was thrilled to note that in many places I could honestly say, "Been there. Done that." But just when I was getting big-headed Dr. Clever would gently point out something I haven't quite finished yet. It's a great book for young and old, and the advice is timeless.

Renewing Yourself, March 5, 2010
By Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas)

Our lives these days are hectic. About 40% of Americans have a more than 50 hour work week and the rest of their time is spent in things that they have committed to doing other things and then become "worn out" not just physically but emotionally and spiritually as well. Dr. Linda Clever shows us how to find our own ways of dealing with this exhaustion and she bases her findings on having listened to many people. She has developed four steps that we can use to give us back some energy---awareness, reflection, conversation and plan-and-act. She helps us track our decisions that might lead to fatigue and gives us advice on how to change some of our habits.
The book is extremely focused and it helps us to create a new healthy lifestyle. It is written in a way that makes it an easy read and it is engaging.

Healer Heal Thyself, March 1, 2010
By T. Adelman, PhD, RN

The Fatigue Prescription is a very focused and beneficial road map for all who wish to recreate (renew) a healthy lifestyle. It is also one of the best, most useable prescriptions for busy, harried, health professionals who often feel overwhelmed with taking on the burdens of others. Dr. Linda Hawes Clever, long a friend of the nursing profession, has provided a wonderful tool for all those who care for others to replenish their own resources, first. This is a doctor's order that is not only necessary but safe in that the only side effects are renewed peace and serenity. I highly recommend this interactive book and have recommended it to nursing colleagues and fellow faculty members. In addition, I have included the principles and action steps suggested in the book with undergraduate and graduate nursing students with the intention that they understand the importance of "self-care" as reinforced through Dr. Clever's program RENEW [...] as part of their professional tool belt of resources.

February 20, 2010

You were absolutely terrific on Friday night at Book Passage. My friend and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t realize you were so funny. You are a very dynamic speaker while at the same time being warm and engaging. And I am half way through your book and loving it!

Bed-time reading, February 16, 2010
By M. R. Lewin (San Francisco, CA)

I thought, "I am too busy and tired to read this." I've been reading it before bed and Dr. Clevers easy and friendly style put me in a good frame of mind before bed. Half way through the book I figured out how to make one of my most onerous work tasks palatable and, even, fun. This book doesn't give you the answers, but it facilitates your finding them within yourself. Great book. Easy to read. I've given it as a gift to three of my friends and put it in the break room at work for others to peruse.

Engaging and interactive, February 11, 2010
By Paola Gianturco

The Fatigue Prescription is engaging and interactive. If you are constantly juggling competing imperatives (who isn't!) this workbook will inspire and help you recalibrate priorities so your focus--and energy--return. You owe it to yourself to read this book!

A Renewed and Peppier Me, February 4, 2010
By Ann H. Clark

I am just loving The Fatigue Prescription. I so enjoy reading the experiences of Linda, Jamie, and Sarah. I especially loved the story about Sarah holding Jamie's hand when he gashed his face and then asking Linda to hold her hand!

I'm inspired by Linda's "F's" and Jamie's "C's". This led me to create my list of "H's" (Honesty, Humility, Hard work, Helping self, Helping others, Holding hands). On every page I find encouraging ideas or poems or quotations. I'm getting near the end, but don't want to finish it. Actually this is just the beginning of a renewed and peppier me!

At the end I am touched by Francesca Gardner's Afterword. She says it all. So "grab this book and take a ride on the Renewal Railroad, jettisoning unneeded life baggage on the way to a more energized, stress-free, and meaningful future."

Thanks so much!