December can be a lot — busy schedules, end-of-year pressure, holiday obligations, germs, exhaustion, and the added demands of singing and performing. In this final episode of 2025, Amber Mogg Cathey shares a compassionate, realistic approach to getting through the month without burning out.
In this episode, Amber walks you through her four pillars for surviving December as a singer:
• Budgeting your energy when everything feels demanding
• Giving yourself permission to do less (without losing momentum)
• Supporting your whole well-being — not just your voice
• Letting go of guilt around practice, performance, and productivity
Whether you’re navigating gigs, rehearsals, family commitments, or simply trying to stay healthy and grounded, this episode offers gentle reminders and practical support to help you move through December with more ease — and enter the new year feeling steadier, not depleted.
00:00 Surviving December as a Singer
04:46 Budgeting Your Energy
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Hello and welcome back to Vocal Tips in 10, friends. This is my last episode of the year, my last episode of 2025, and I want to talk to you all today about surviving the month of December as a singer, as a singer, as a human. And I should also say, if you are listening to this episode in any month other than December, but you are listening to it because you are in a really busy season of life. You are feeling
exhausted and overwhelmed and a little burnt out maybe. This still applies, but
December is just one of those months. the holidays are upon us. We've got everything that comes with that. I love the holidays. Huge sucker for the holidays. And it adds a lot of extra stuff. Travel and events with family and friends and all things that I love, but just more stuff to do to my already quite busy life. And I love it and I enjoy it and I want to do all of it, but it also can be
really exhausting. Also for many people, the holidays can be a tough time emotionally for whatever reason. ⁓ They can just be tough, right? They can be great, but they can be a lot. Also, December brings the end of the year. So if you are a college student or somebody in any area of school, you're in the midst of like finals and trying to finish everything up. If you've got kids, they are in the midst of that. I have that. I know how crazy that is.
So many jobs. It's like, let's just finish these things, to prep for the end of the year. It's just a lot of extra pressure. And then many times as singers, it's a heavy time for gigs, a heavy time for performance opportunities, which is again, is great and amazing. And it's just a lot.
And then for many of us, certainly those of us in the Northern hemisphere, This is when the temp has really dropped, germs start to spread. So we're just juggling a lot of things, right?
So what are some things that you can do to make this season and this end of the year time, no matter what you're doing, no matter what or how you celebrate, as positive and successful as possible?
So I'm gonna kind of think about this as four pillars. Let's say the four pillars of December success, right? The first pillar is going to be budgeting your energy. So just like you have heard me talk about, if you've listened to past episodes, budgeting your vocal energy, knowing at the beginning of each day what your expectations are, knowing yourself, knowing your voice, how much can you use your voice?
and still feel and sound your best and budgeting that accordingly for the day, for the week. Do that for your overall energy too. It's not just about your voice. It's about you as a person.
you only have so many hours in the day, you only have so much energy physically, emotionally, vocally, budgeting accordingly, maybe that means you sit down and you really jot out everything you have to do for the month. Work-wise, Music-wise, those might be the same thing, they might be different for you, for your family, for your friends, everything, and really go, what are the have-tos? Budget all of that out with your energy,
What are the not have to's that I can add? You might have lots of space. You might be surprised and not have all that much. And just being aware of that and kind of blocking things out accordingly to Save you from just really burning out and being so exhausted where you spend the time off, the days off you get around the holiday, which I hope you get those, just kind of recouping to start the new year.
sometimes just taking the time to really acknowledge everything you have to do and figuring out how it's gonna work and what you can cut and what you want to add to just make it the best it can be. sometimes just that is all you need to kind of put things in perspective and know that saying no can totally be a form of self-care, right?
saying no to the invitation. saying no to the practice session that you normally do. Yes, I'm a vocal coach. I'm a vocal rehabilitation specialist. And I'm saying don't beat yourself up for practicing less in a month that is so packed. Do what you need to do, obviously. But I have so many singers even just over this Thanksgiving holiday here in the US that came to me for their lesson after the holiday and said,
They were just beating themselves up. Amber, I'm sorry just with the holidays. I didn't practice like normal. And my response to all of them was good. I hope you are spending time with people you care about or doing things that make you feel good when you've got downtime like that. Take a break from practicing. You can be off too. We don't always have to be on. And many times taking that break...
can really help you, not only help you mentally, physically, you'll notice your voice feels a lot better. The voice needs downtime just like the rest of you does.
And that kind of brings me into pillar number two, and I'm making these up as I go friends. Pillar number two, give yourself permission to do less. What do I mean by that?
I would say for most of us, this is not a time to start to focus on massively heavy techniques. This is the end of the year, And like I said, for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, we are in the winter season. It gets dark early. It stays dark late in the morning. I wake up and it's dark. I go to bed and it's dark. so naturally we kind of feel a little bit more like hibernating, right?
So think of December as a month for sustainability. Work your voice, maybe work it five minutes, 10 minutes, then give yourself a break. A light warmup before your gig and a light cool down, you're good to go. Adding extra, probably not something you need to do this month, unless it's something that brings you joy and you have the time and energy to do it and then go for it. But I think for all of us to feel comfortable doing a little bit less and knowing that's okay,
part of the season. Nobody's judging you for that. If they are, ignore those people and it's probably going to benefit you. You probably will start the new year, feeling better. Voice, body and mind.
Pillar three, you are not just a voice, you are human. So remember to support the entire human. And that's just a good rule of thumb for taking care of your voice across the board. The things that make you feel better physically, mentally, emotionally, those all are going to make you feel better and do better vocally.
Up your hydration. Drink ample liquid and water. I add in electrolytes this time of year because I can't get enough hydration even though I drink so much water. Add surface hydration like steaming and nebulizing. really prioritize good sleep.
refill that battery whenever you can. Because again, it's not just a busy time of year, it's kind of a germy time of year for many of us. So keep that immune system up, keep your mental and physical health feeling really good.
Focus on the routines that Just make you feel good, right? Movement, we hold stress in the body that affects us physically, mentally, vocally. Some movement that feels good, whatever that means for you. Getting outside and taking a walk is a big one for me. Stretching, whatever it is. Remembering to move, remembering to fuel your body with good food and ample hydration and all those great things. Just remember that.
this time of year. And also don't beat yourself up if you go to a holiday party and eat some junk and, you know, aren't necessarily prioritizing your voice number one. That's okay. you need to have balance and tis the season, friends.
And really pillar four, guess these all tie together so tightly. Pillar four, just would say is let go of the guilt as much as you can. So guilt of not practicing, guilt of saying no to a gig,
that normally you might say yes to, you just can't do it on top of everything else. Guilt of saying no to a party or a social event or gathering that you would like to go to in theory, but you just don't have the energy for it and you know that.
Guilt about resting, guilt about doing the gig and changing keys, modifying your set list to really match the energy that you have vocally and otherwise in this busy time. Let's just focus on what we can do, focus on supporting us as a whole human, focusing on what makes us feel good so we can end this year feeling as strong as possible so we can kick 2026 off.
as strong as possible.
So however December is unfolding for you so far, whether that is magical, stressful, messy, exhausting, energizing, inspiring, your voice is going to thank you if you approach this month and yourself with compassion, with grace, giving yourself a break, giving others around you a break, prioritizing what really matters to you
and letting some of those other things go and not beating yourself up about that. I hope you found this helpful. I think I probably did this episode for me as much as for anybody. So I will go back and, so I will be going back and listening to this probably when I need my own reminders.
I also just want to end this by saying thank you for being on this journey with me this year, for listening to the podcast.
for reaching out and letting me know how it's helping you and supporting you. It means the world. I am going to be taking the next few weeks off and we will be back on January 7th with a new episode back in 2026. All kinds of energized. have no doubt because we're going to treat ourselves with extra care this month of December. Thank you so much for listening. Happy holidays,
and see you in the New Year!
