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Gain with Pain: Chronic Illness Productivity Hacks
Sometimes life gets complicated.
Your doctor has informed you that you have cancer. Or fibromyalgia. Or perhaps lupus. When you receive a serious
health diagnosis, you can do one of three things: act as if nothing happened and try unsuccessfully to muddle through, shut down completely…or find your new normal.
In Gain with Pain: Chronic Illness Productivity Hacks, Erin Zarro shares her daily struggles with multiple serious health
conditions, and how she found her new normal. She gives you exercises to do to mentally prepare yourself for the day, shares how to plan activities so you don't completely exhaust yourself or worsen your condition, and suggests ways you can get past the grief of your diagnosis and move on with your life.
Even if you don't have serious health problems, you can use the list-making techniques outlined in this book to help
organize your time so that the rigors of a busy schedule no longer get in the way of your productivity and happiness. To allow you the kind of time to enjoy friends, family, and the life you deserve.
Gain with Pain: Chronic Illness Productivity Hacks is Erin's first self-help book about coping with the daily struggles of chronic illness. You may also enjoy Life as a Moving Target, a poetry chapbook that explores what life with a chronic illness is really like.
Your doctor has informed you that you have cancer. Or fibromyalgia. Or perhaps lupus. When you receive a serious
health diagnosis, you can do one of three things: act as if nothing happened and try unsuccessfully to muddle through, shut down completely…or find your new normal.
In Gain with Pain: Chronic Illness Productivity Hacks, Erin Zarro shares her daily struggles with multiple serious health
conditions, and how she found her new normal. She gives you exercises to do to mentally prepare yourself for the day, shares how to plan activities so you don't completely exhaust yourself or worsen your condition, and suggests ways you can get past the grief of your diagnosis and move on with your life.
Even if you don't have serious health problems, you can use the list-making techniques outlined in this book to help
organize your time so that the rigors of a busy schedule no longer get in the way of your productivity and happiness. To allow you the kind of time to enjoy friends, family, and the life you deserve.
Gain with Pain: Chronic Illness Productivity Hacks is Erin's first self-help book about coping with the daily struggles of chronic illness. You may also enjoy Life as a Moving Target, a poetry chapbook that explores what life with a chronic illness is really like.
115 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 7, 2018
About the author
Erin Zarro
19 books62 followersErin Zarro is a speculative fiction author and poet who adores a good enemies to lovers romance, a horror novel that will scare you out of sleeping for a week, and sci-fi that stretches the boundaries of science and technology. And animal familiars. Almost all her books feature an animal familiar somewhere. If she’s not chasing her muse in the dead of the night (and failing to keep up), she’s either reading, studying Esperanto, gaming, drinking tons of Mountain Dew while editing other authors’ books, or reading Tarot cards.
If you enjoy traipsing through hi-tech fantasy worlds and dark dystopic colonies, creepy psychological mind-bending horror, cool stuff done with science, and a dash of contemporary romance, see you where madness becomes magic.
If you enjoy traipsing through hi-tech fantasy worlds and dark dystopic colonies, creepy psychological mind-bending horror, cool stuff done with science, and a dash of contemporary romance, see you where madness becomes magic.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 13, 2026
A number of hacks for tackling life when you're struggling with a chronic illness. Each productivity tip ends with an exercise to help you put it into practice. Many of these ideas were familiar to me, but I enjoyed reading the author's personal stories about using them. Very encouraging tone!
July 19, 2020
About the Book: Erin spent the early part of her twenties fighting for a diagnosis because of her numerous health concerns. In 2006 she was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Intractable Vertigo. In later years she was also diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia. After receiving treatment she found effective. She also found her own coping methods to enable her to have a good quality of life. In this book, Erin explores these methods to help others in a similar situation.
My Review: Erin has experienced an awful time fighting for her diagnosis and effective treatment. For the purpose of future readers, I feel Erin experiences mild to moderate debilitating symptoms. From her narrative I do not believe she experiences severe symptoms as she is able to complete the majority of activities of daily living. Yet, I am not taking away Erin's daily struggles.
Erin provides useful coping methods covering topics using as 'Greiving Your Former Self, The New Normal and Relastic Expectations'. I am starting to use the majority of the coping methods in my daily life and I am finding them beneficial. Thank you Erin.
However, in my opinion the author comes across slightly unlikeable. She is very blunt to the point where it is unnecessarily harsh. Some of her views are somewhat ableist. Numerous times she repeats that she a 'Type A' person with a 'Inner slave driver'; it became tedious and marginally pratgonising.
In conclusion, I would have given this book top marks if the approach was friendly. At times, the book felt slightly intimidating. I can see the author has put a lot of work in to this self help book and in many ways it is great book. However, I would advice further readers to adjust the coping methods to your own abilities.
Disclaimer: My Book Reviews are based on my own opinions and experiences only.
My Review: Erin has experienced an awful time fighting for her diagnosis and effective treatment. For the purpose of future readers, I feel Erin experiences mild to moderate debilitating symptoms. From her narrative I do not believe she experiences severe symptoms as she is able to complete the majority of activities of daily living. Yet, I am not taking away Erin's daily struggles.
Erin provides useful coping methods covering topics using as 'Greiving Your Former Self, The New Normal and Relastic Expectations'. I am starting to use the majority of the coping methods in my daily life and I am finding them beneficial. Thank you Erin.
However, in my opinion the author comes across slightly unlikeable. She is very blunt to the point where it is unnecessarily harsh. Some of her views are somewhat ableist. Numerous times she repeats that she a 'Type A' person with a 'Inner slave driver'; it became tedious and marginally pratgonising.
In conclusion, I would have given this book top marks if the approach was friendly. At times, the book felt slightly intimidating. I can see the author has put a lot of work in to this self help book and in many ways it is great book. However, I would advice further readers to adjust the coping methods to your own abilities.
Disclaimer: My Book Reviews are based on my own opinions and experiences only.
September 2, 2023
A wonderful book for people battling with chronic illnesses. Very uplifting and full of of things only a person who has a chronic illness could understand. Very heart touching, I loved it 💚
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews