Is it time to pause? What burnout, wedding planning, and business taught Cristina Riani
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What if taking a break wasn’t a step back, but a step deeper into alignment?
In this conversation, Cristina Riani—life coach and founder of Holistic Task Completion Coaching—shares her story of leaving academia, launching a business, planning a wedding, and redefining her relationship with time along the way.
After pushing through years of burnout in a PhD program, Cristina realized that productivity culture had pulled her far from what she actually cared about: helping people live lives rooted in curiosity, presence, and care.
“I lost all the joy I had for the work I was doing,” she shared. “It was so detached from helping people connect with nature and themselves.”
That moment of disconnection became a turning point.
A new way to coach (and live)
When Cristina left academia, she didn’t just want to rest—she wanted to rebuild. She began blending life coaching with practical, day-to-day support for clients who, like her, needed both emotional and logistical tools to move forward.
But something was still missing: a deeper way to work with time itself.
Enter the Holistic Time Practitioner Certification.
Realistic Capacity & Compassionate Curiosity.
Inside the program, Cristina found language for what she had been feeling all along: that how we relate to time is deeply connected to how we relate to ourselves.
“I’ve often believed I don’t have enough time,” she said. “But what I needed wasn’t more hours—it was a new way to see my capacity.”
She described the biggest shift as moving from “how much can I fit in?” to “what do I actually have capacity for—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?”
One of her favorite concepts was realistic capacity, especially paired with compassionate curiosity—a cornerstone of the certification.
Choosing to pause
As Cristina dove into planning her wedding, she realized something powerful: “If I was going to actually enjoy this… I had to drop something.”
So, she paused her podcast. Paused her marketing. Paused trying to “keep up” with business growth. And instead, chose to live what she teaches.
“Even if I doubted the decision later,” she said, “I could come back to the clarity I had when I made it.”
She gave herself permission to pause—and in doing so, her work deepened.
Integration over perfection
Cristina didn’t feel pressure to “use every tool” right away. Instead, she noticed how the ideas from the program started weaving into her coaching sessions naturally.
“It’s not about doing the certification perfectly,” she said. “So much of the integration was subconscious. It just started showing up in how I listened, what questions I asked, and how I guided clients.”
She also created a podcast, ran two unshaming procrastination workshops, and began describing her work more clearly as holistic task completion—all ripples from the certification.
Words for future students
Cristina’s story is one of courage, clarity, and honoring what’s real.
If you’re someone who helps others but struggles with your own time, energy, or capacity... If you’re craving a gentler, more honest way to do your work... this program is for you.
As Cristina put it:
“This isn’t another certification you have to do perfectly. There’s so much more grace.”
Want to become a Holistic Time Practitioner yet?
The next cohort of the certification begins July 31st. Learn more and join us here!
Connect with Cristina
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rianicoaching/
Sign up for her newsletter: https://subscribe.rianicoaching.com/
