LOUISE THOMPSON: I used to be （麻薬）常用者d to alcohol, now I'm （麻薬）常用者d to work
I recently saw a viral ビデオ on Instagram that showed Matt LeBlanc talking about taking a year off work after Friends ended. He spoke candidly about doing nothing for 12 months with 計画（する）s to return to work afterwards ? but he ended up loving the time off so much, he decided to do nothing for another year. He then 延長するd this sabbatical for a その上の three years after that.
I watched with more than a smidge of envy. I’ve always struggled to switch off, so this idea of slowing 負かす／撃墜する to the point of stopping feels 外国人 to me, but it did make me think hard about my own work-life balance ? or rather, the fact I don’t have one.
Of course, the big difference between me and Matt LeBlanc is that he starred in one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, so money probably isn’t a big worry for him.
I, on the other 手渡す, am the main breadwinner for our family. I can’t just stop working.
I have a mortgage to 支払う／賃金, I 雇う a team of people and Leo’s nursery 料金s aren’t cheap. So, no, a five-year sabbatical isn’t on the cards for me any time soon.
Matt LeBlanc worked foot-to-the-床に打ち倒す for two １０年間s, then put the handbrake on and stopped 完全に. Is that normal? What is the optimal work-life balance for a happy and 実行するing life? Should I 燃やす myself out now in an 試みる／企てる to retire 早期に? Everybody in my social circle seems on a 追求（する），探索（する） to find out the same thing.
I certainly 港／避難所’t 設立する the answer, but what I do know is that I seem to be waking up every morning having dreamt about an unending to-do 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）.
I lost out on a year of 可能性のある 収入s because I was very ill after Leo was born, so with a whole heap of 負債 to 支払う／賃金 off after that period I was 本気で 動機づけるd to get 支援する into work as soon as I was 井戸／弁護士席 enough. And I did ? in a big way. I propelled myself into a cycle of working around the clock, which only fed my 中毒の nature.
You might not have experienced 地位，任命する-traumatic 強調する／ストレス disorder, but you may have read Bessel 先頭 der Kolk’s 調書をとる／予約する, The 団体／死体 Keeps the 得点する／非難する／２０. More than three million people have. In it, he 令状s about why people who have 苦しむd extreme 外傷／ショック are more likely to develop 中毒s. It’s because 生存者s often use 実体s to 対処する with their 苦しめる. The extra 強調する／ストレス 原因（となる）s changes to a person’s brain 機能（する）／行事, making it more likely that your 実体 of choice will lead to 中毒.
By the time I went through my 近づく-death experience, I had already 回復するd from 中毒s to alcohol and 有毒な 関係s. But hello, welcome to the party ? my new 実体 of choice is work.
Matt LeBlanc took time off
I think it’s a combination of the dopamine 攻撃する，衝突する I get from feeling in 需要・要求する and the satisfaction of furiously ticking things off a 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）. Oh, and the PTSD that keeps me on the treadmill, because my brain loves the distraction. This all 追加するs up to working days that start at 6am and いつかs don’t end until 11pm.
Contrary to what many might think, 存在 self-雇うd doesn’t mean 存在 in 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of your own time. I can’t always clock off when I get home. I am often pulled in different directions. When there isn’t the safety 逮捕する of a 正規の／正選手 salary, there is every incentive to keep going and say yes to each 適切な時期.
Now, I know I’m not 成し遂げるing life-saving 外科 or 信管を取り除くing landmines, but from the moment I get up at 6am I’m pretty much always on. Leo comes first, then when he’s dropped off at 8am I start the 過程 of my day. I leave the 役割 of ‘soft mum’ at the school gates and turn on my hard 商売／仕事 brain the moment my 手渡す 攻撃する，衝突するs the steering wheel.
I dart 支援する and 前へ／外へ between 答える／応じるing to chains of emails. I have my fingers in lots of pies: I manage my team and my 所有物／資産／財産 and fitness 商売／仕事s; I run 多重の social-マスコミ channels; 記録，記録的な／記録する podcast episodes (my own with my fianc? Ryan and as a guest on others); do 圧力（をかける） interviews; organise 週刊誌 photo shoots (if not 外部の, I shoot at home twice a week);
Since her illness, Louise 作品 around the clock
I edit daily ビデオ content (hugely time-消費するing); read 契約s and build 関係s with （弁護士の）依頼人s. I do a lot of spreadsheeting. I still also slot in bi-週刊誌 NHS 医療の 任命s and ざっと目を通すs. Oh, and I do a lot of きれいにする. I have to be 前線 of house and 支援する of house. I often wish that I could sit at a computer in a small dark room with no make-up on in a tracksuit with no one looking at me.
I’m loath to 収容する／認める it, but I often find myself lying in bed with my son, mentally ticking off the 職業s from the day.
I 株 a lot of the more glamorous things I do on social マスコミ, so to the outside world it must look like I spend my days cooking with Leo or showcasing lovely outfits. What I 株 いっそう少なく of is the constant rollercoaster, the ebb and flow of success that’s part of 存在 my own boss, and the 圧力 that comes with it.
Last year was really successful and I felt both financially and professionally 安全な・保証する enough to be able to slow 負かす／撃墜する in 2025. Except I’m so tempted by all the 適切な時期s out there. In my 産業 nothing is 保証（人）d, so it’s impossible to say no to an exciting 職業 when you don’t know when another one might come along.
Ryan recently asked me whether I’m proud of what I’ve 達成するd. It stopped me in my 跡をつけるs because I have never stood still long enough to consider that.
So, am I where I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to be by 35?
● I don’t have the three kids I thought I would.
● I 港／避難所’t been able to step 支援する and have more of a balcony 見解（をとる） of my 商売／仕事.
● I 港／避難所’t 投資するd in companies that have been sold off for billions.
● I 港／避難所’t got married.
● I still 港／避難所’t planned any whimsical girlfriend get-togethers doing zen activities like pottery, which I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to host 地位，任命する-illness.
● I’m still miles off feeling 勇敢な enough to get on 行う／開催する／段階 to do a Ted talk about my experience to help others.
But here’s what I do have:
● A best-selling 調書をとる／予約する.
● A beautiful, happy child.
● I’m 90 per cent 回復するd from a serious illness.
● A pretty freaking snazzy home that feels very us.
● I don’t care what 50 per cent of the people I 会合，会う think of me, so I’m halfway there.
● A 広大な／多数の／重要な 関係 with my parents ? dare I say it they’re becoming my best friends after years of me thinking they were uncool.
● A 目的 to help others by 株ing my own health 戦う／戦いs, which counts for more than any of the things I 港／避難所’t ticked off.
I just need to learn to slow 負かす／撃墜する and embrace it.
