Sarala Life — Life in Chapters: Careers, Canines, Cabernet & Courage

A Strategic Pivot in my own ROI.

Last week, I stopped. Properly stopped. Not a soft pause, not a “let me just clear these last three emails,” not a pseudo-rest where I’m still hustling in the background. No. I mentally, physically, and spiritually flatlined and just… laid down.

And it was hard.

If you know me, you know rest used to feel like waste. Like failure. I didn’t know how to exist separate from work, productivity, or a trauma response that kept me on alert—waiting for the text… the call… the email that would yank me back into action regardless of time, date, or decade. I lived plugged into urgency like an IV drip.

But last week, my mind and body whispered (then yelled): lay down for a bit. And for once, I listened. I’m grateful I’m in a season of life where I could listen—but the guilt still came. Because learning to be kind to yourself is its own curriculum. (Ironically, advice given to me by someone I no longer speak to… more on that in another chapter.)

Success isn’t only built in movement. Sometimes it’s built in the quiet—no phone in hand, no book, not even Alexa playing “Meditation Sounds for Burnt-Out Women.” Rest is a skill. One I’m still learning.

We have to learn to rest with the same intensity we learn to “perform.” And it is not selfish. “Time,” like “success,” like “life,” is personal. For someone with a free afternoon, rest might look like a three-hour nap. For someone juggling a calendar, it might be fifteen minutes sitting alone in your car with a coffee and your own thoughts. Those “reflect” minutes on your Apple Watch count. That 15-minute block you put in before a long meeting for coffee and a bathroom break? Counts.

And while we’re here—can we talk about time respect? I once worked with an executive who was chronically late to the meetings they scheduled—sometimes not showing up at all. Yes, things happen. But patterns matter. It wasn’t just disrespect for others; it was self-disrespect—always living in the back-to-back chaos, never in control of time but ruled by it. I learnt this the hard way: Not every fire is yours to put out. And not every urgency belongs to you. I may be a subject matter expert in my field, but I’m also the subject matter expert in my life. So I decide the cadence, urgency, and priority—including rest—as long as I’m willing to accept the consequences.

There are no silos in life. Everything is interconnected. How you show up in one space is a reflection of how you are nourishing (or neglecting) the others.

A few years ago, I had my version of an out-of-body experience—not the woo-woo kind, but the kind where I was so entangled in one part of my life that I disappeared from myself entirely. I forgot my own rhythm, my core values, my north star. We talk about dulling pain through alcohol or sex or distraction—but we also dull it with overwork, over-scheduling, avoidance, and hyper-performance. Grounding matters. And when you’re grounded, it shows.

So last week, at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday, I lay on my sofa, stared at the ceiling… and just existed. No purpose. No productivity. Just being. And I’m proud of that.

On paper, my work productivity was minimal: one meeting, one email. But personally? I rested. I got my 10k+ steps. I exercised. I put up the Christmas tree because twinkle lights make the world better. I walked the dogs. I read in the backyard. I poured a glass of wine. I made tea in my mother’s 68-year-old teapot and set my formal Christmas table for no reason except joy. I took a drive. I walked around the pharmacy and bought nothing. I dropped my husband off at his club. I chose me.

And I woke up today grateful. Ready. Not because life is suddenly easy, but because I gave myself what I needed before I needed it.

This week will be full—three days of external meetings, two evening events, hosting somewhere in between—and I feel good. And if I don’t? I’ll pivot. Flexibility is a part of wellness too.

So this chapter is really about the ROI of rest. My EPS—my share value—is high, and it’s exclusively available to the genuine. Let’s use that corporate talk on ourselves. Measure the return on your energy, not just your output. Carve out your own KPIs: joy, peace, clarity, sleep. The things that don’t go in a report but show up in how you show up.

And if you needed a sign: it’s okay to put the laptop down.

Also… it’s almost Christmas.

👤 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarala Rambachan is a corporate commercial attorney, governance strategist and writer exploring life through the lens of growth, culture, courage and Caribbean womanhood. When she’s not rewriting legal frameworks, she’s rewriting her own — one chapter, one glass of wine, and one walk with George and Isabella at a time.

🕵🏽‍♀️ CLUE OF THE WEEK
I once judged myself for laying on the sofa at 11AM. Last week, I called it strategy. That’s the growth.