So many people think of self-care as something they do - a routine, a habit, a list of activities. But true self-care starts much earlier than that.

It starts with listening to your body.

In today’s episode, I’m talking about one of the most overlooked wellbeing skills: recognising the signals your body sends you before you hit exhaustion, burnout, or illness. Because so many people are pushing through tiredness, stress, aches, low mood, and constant fatigue - often without realising they’re overriding the very signals designed to protect them.

• Why modern life makes it so easy to override your body’s signals.

• The most common signs people ignore (tiredness, brain fog, irritability, niggling injuries, low mood).

• How chronic “pushing through” weakens the nervous system and immune system.

• Why getting run down is often a sign of depletion, not “bad luck”.

• The real meaning of symptoms — and why they’re your body’s early-warning system

• What true self-care actually looks like

• Simple ways to rebuild a better relationship with your body and make supportive choices

Your body is always communicating with you. Most people have just stopped listening.

When you slow down long enough to notice what your body needs - and then take the supportive action - everything becomes easier: your energy, mood, focus, resilience and overall wellbeing.

If you'd like support with your wellbeing, stress, or performance - either through 1:1 coaching or a wellbeing session for your organisation - you can email [email protected] or visit www.katehorwood.com for more details.

And if this episode resonated, please share it with someone who might need to hear it.

Follow or subscribe so you don’t miss next week’s episode - and if you have a second to leave a short review, I’d be really grateful. It helps others find the show.

If you often feel tired, wired, anxious, or low on energy, your blood sugar may be the missing piece.

In this episode, Kate explains how daily eating patterns affect stress, mood, focus, and even long-term health ... and shares practical, realistic ways to stabilise your energy throughout the day.

You’ll learn:

• Why blood sugar regulation impacts everything from focus and mood to sleep and stress.
• How chronic spikes and crashes affect long-term health and metabolism.
• Common patterns that cause imbalance - like skipping meals, relying on caffeine, or eating too little.
• Simple, sustainable ways to eat for stable energy and calmer days.
• Why this is one of the easiest and most effective ways to manage stress naturally.

Interested in support?

For more support on wellbeing, performance, and resilience, visit www.katehorwood.com or email [email protected]

In this episode of Busy Doing Well, Kate explores one of the most common challenges faced by busy professionals: overwhelm.

She shares how she helps clients step back, review what’s really causing their stress, and create more space, calm, and clarity in their everyday lives.

• Why overwhelm isn’t a sign of weakness, and what it really means.
• How the Wellbeing Foundations support resilience and stress management.
• The process Kate uses with clients to review commitments, drop energy drains, and delegate effectively.
• Why guilt and familiarity keep people stuck in unsustainable patterns.
• Simple ways to create breathing space and prevent overwhelm in daily life.

Overwhelm doesn’t mean you’re failing, it’s a signal that something(s) needs to shift.

When you step back and pause long enough to review what’s working and what isn’t, you can then create the clarity to make some changes and to move forward with more balance and control.

Whether you’re looking for 1-to-1 coaching or wellbeing and performance sessions for your organisation, I’d love to hear from you.

You can email [email protected] to book a consultation, or visit www.katehorwood.com to find out more.

In this episode of Busy Doing Well, I’m taking a step back to reflect on everything we’ve covered so far - from understanding why we struggle in today’s busy world, to exploring the six wellbeing foundations that help us not just cope, but truly thrive.

It’s a chance to pause, zoom out, and see how it all connects, because awareness really is the starting point for change.

In this episode, I cover:

• Why chronic stress has become one of the biggest wellbeing challenges of modern life, and how to approach it differently.

• The key ethos behind Busy Doing Well - that thriving isn’t about doing more, but about living, feeling, and performing well in a sustainable way.

• A recap of the six Wellbeing Foundations: food, movement, time and energy, mindset, purpose and progress, and sleep and rest.

• How these foundations interconnect - and why “good enough” consistency is far more powerful than perfection.

As this first phase of the podcast comes to a close, I’ll also share what’s next: moving from awareness into practical tools, habits, and inspiring conversations to help you live well in a busy world.

If you're interested in working together, find out more via my website: www.katehorwood.com or email [email protected]

In this final episode of the Wellbeing Foundations series, Kate explores one of the most overlooked pillars of wellbeing - sleep and rest.

While most of us know sleep is important, many busy people underestimate just how essential it is or unintentionally sacrifice it in favour of getting more done. But without enough rest, even the best habits in nutrition, movement, and mindset can only take us so far.

In this episode, Kate explains:

• Why sleep and rest are the foundation for energy, focus, mood, and resilience.
• How stress hormones and modern habits create “second winds” that keep us up late.
• The link between chronic stress, blood sugar imbalance, and sleep disruption.
• Why rest isn’t “doing nothing” - it’s how your body completes the 'stress cycle' and recharges.
• Practical ways to create real rest, from simple routines to nervous system–calming tools.

This episode brings together everything explored so far in the series - showing how sleep and rest support every other wellbeing foundation, and why they’re key to preventing burnout and thriving in our busy modern world.

Next week, Kate will wrap up the Wellbeing Foundations with a recap and look ahead to what’s coming next — practical tools and habits for living well in a busy world.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

If you’re enjoying Busy Doing Well, please follow, subscribe, or leave a review — it really helps more people find the show.

And if you're interested in working together, find out more via my website: www.katehorwood.com or email [email protected]

In this week’s episode of Busy Doing Well, Kate explores why having a sense of purpose and progress is essential for wellbeing, and how chronic busyness or stress can disconnect us from our bigger vision for life.

You’ll learn:

• Why a clear vision can transform stress into direction and optimism.
• How chronic busyness keeps us reactive — and what breaks that cycle.
• A simple 10-year-to-1-year visioning process Kate uses with clients.
• Why progress, not perfection, is what fuels long-term motivation.
• How this “macro” form of planning complements everyday time and energy management.

Kate also shares how regularly revisiting your goals and vision can reduce stress, restore motivation, and help you feel more intentional about your next steps.

If you're interested in working together find out more via my website: www.katehorwood.com or email [email protected]

Your mindset influences everything - how you see challenges, how you speak to yourself, and how you handle stress. But when we’re under pressure, stress can distort our thoughts and make life feel far harder than it really is.

In this episode of Busy Doing Well, Kate explores how stress affects the way we think and how to regain control of your mindset when you’re overwhelmed.

You’ll learn:

• How stress hormones distort perception and fuel unhelpful thought patterns.
• Why your inner dialogue can either calm or agitate your nervous system.
• How to replace self-criticism with a more compassionate inner voice.
• The difference between a fixed and growth mindset — and how to reframe setbacks as learning opportunities.
• Two simple tools — gratitude and “flipping the what-if” — to instantly shift perspective and energy.

Tune in to understand how stress and mindset are intertwined, and how small shifts in your thoughts can change how you feel and respond.

If you’d like support with cultivating a calmer, stronger mindset, visit www.katehorwood.com and don’t forget to hit follow or subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next.

Most busy people I work with aren’t struggling with their time because they’re lazy, in fact, they’re often doing a huge amount. The real problem is that without a clear plan for their time and energy, they end up living reactively: firefighting, juggling, and constantly feeling behind.

In this episode of Busy Doing Well, I share:

• Why disorganised or scattered task management keeps you stuck in a reactive cycle.
• The difference between planning time alone vs. planning time and energy together.
• How proactive planning helps you hold stronger boundaries, delegate better, and perform at a higher level.
• Practical examples of how to plan with your wellbeing in mind - so you can prevent burnout and adapt when life throws curveballs.

The key takeaway: intentional planning isn’t about squeezing more in - it’s about creating calm, clarity, and better results, while protecting your health.

Next time, we’ll be talking about mindset - and how your thought patterns and beliefs can either support you or hold you back.

Hit follow or subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode, and if you’re finding this podcast helpful, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review, it helps more people discover the show.

And if you’d like to explore working together either 1-to-1 or with your team - you can find out more and get in touch via my website www.katehorwood.com

For so many people, exercise feels like a guilty “should,” an obligation, or something that never quite fits into a busy life. In this episode, I look at why exercise and movement so often become another stressor instead of something that supports your energy, health, and wellbeing.

We’ll cover:

• Why exercise and movement so often slip to the bottom of the list - and why that’s not about laziness.
• The biggest myths and misconceptions that make exercise feel harder than it needs to be.
• The real impact of sedentary modern lifestyles on mood, focus, sleep, and long-term health.
• How all-or-nothing thinking and overtraining can be just as unhelpful as not moving at all.

Movement and exercise isn’t about punishment or perfection, it’s about finding small, realistic ways to move more - and rethinking how you approach exercise so it becomes a source of wellbeing, not stress…. and eventually a part of your every day life.

Listen to learn how to break the cycle and bring more movement into your day in a way that actually lasts.

Interested in your support?

If you’d like support in building sustainable wellbeing foundations for yourself or your team, you can connect with me at www.katehorwood.com

Food is such a huge part of our wellbeing - but for many busy people, it’s also a major source of stress. Skipped meals, caffeine fixes, sugar cravings, rushing through food, or trying to follow extreme nutrition rules… all of these patterns drain energy, fuel stress, and make life harder than it needs to be.

In this episode of Busy Doing Well, I explore:

• Why eating patterns, not just nutrition, make such a big difference.
• The most common traps busy people fall into with food.
• How poor eating habits fuel stress, cravings, and even sleep problems.
• Why blood sugar regulation matters more than most people realise.
• Simple shifts that make food a support system, not another stressor.

This is the first in the Wellbeing Foundations series - starting with food, nutrition, and eating habits. Next time, we’ll move on to movement and exercise, and why it doesn’t need to mean hours in the gym or another item on your to-do list.

If episode resonated: follow the podcast so you don’t miss what’s next, and please leave a quick review to help others discover it too.

Interested in working together?

If you’d like support with your wellbeing - whether for yourself or your team - you can learn more about working with me here