Madonna says the breakdown of her seven-and-a-half year marriage to British director Guy Ritchie has been tough, but a heavy workload “provides a distraction that keeps me going.”

“I’m sad about my personal life, but I feel very blessed and very lucky that I have the opportunity to do what I do in my professional life,” Madonna said in an interview with the Associated Press Sunday. “It would be horrible if I was just thinking about getting a divorce and had nothing to do.”

The Material Girl is presently promoting her documentary, I Am Because We Are, which explores the impoverished and AIDS-infested African nation of Malawi.

The film will premiere on the Sundance Channel December 1.