Working From Home is Weird!

By Noelle Rizzio, LCPC

For the last 20+ years I’ve worked in an office, within a school building. Since August of 2025, I have been working from home. Plenty of people have asked me how it’s going and I haven’t really had a great answer - until now. It’s weird! It’s strange for so many different reasons. It’s wonderful. It’s lonely. It’s freeing. It’s busy. It’s empowering. And it’s scary.

Until now, I’ve always had someone telling me what to do, how to do my job, evaluating how well I’m doing my job. Now - I don’t. It’s just me and the lack-luster bank account that holds me accountable. But am I a good boss? I’m not sure yet. I just realized yesterday that I haven’t given myself a day off since I started.

There are definitely highs and lows to working for yourself. When I sat in my middle school counseling office last year and dreamed of working for myself, I had this image that I would take Mondays and Fridays off; I would bring my friends lunch a few times a month so we could catch up; I would do all the tasks around the house that I had been putting off because I was too busy. Guess what - none of those things have happened!

I would say the lows started right away when my husband and son went back to school - along with all of my friends. Gone were the lazy days of summer when we were all carefree and not bound to the clock. Everyone was at work. I was at work too, but I was alone. No morning coffee chats with my friends. No popping into my husband’s classroom to say hello. No lunch gossip about whatever the latest tea was. Honestly, it never occurred to me that talking to only my dogs all day would be my life.

Don’t get me wrong, there are absolutely wonderful things about working for myself. I get to set my own hours. I am only accountable to myself. The mental stress of working within a system that didn’t really understand what I did is gone. I get to do laundry throughout the day (if you can count that as a win).

But what I really didn’t anticipate was the stress I would put on myself to “make it.” I haven’t taken a day off. My days are BUSY because I create them that way. I was reflecting on why that is and I honestly think that I fill my days because I feel guilty that I work from home. I feel guilty that I left all my friends behind to do the work that I used to do. I feel guilty that my husband still has to go to a job that doesn’t make him happy. I feel guilty that I have this lush situation that sometimes I don’t feel is that lush. I grind out every single day to prove to myself that this was worth it, that I will ‘make it.’

I love it and I don’t regret my decision at all. I think for my own peace and mental health, I needed to leave. I am so much happier and less stressed - which my family appreciates. But there are definitely things that I didn’t expect.

I guess the moral of this story is that when you go for your dreams, there are going to be ups and downs. When you strive to live the life you feel you deserve, there are going to be hurdles. But none of that means you’re not doing the right thing. Every day is a step in the right direction - if you aim correctly!

So - go for your dreams! It will be summer again soon!