As a recent college grad, I’ve built my career from my childhood bed. I feel like I’m missing out on the professional world.

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• I touched back home after college and started a freelance business from my childhood bedroom.
• I love the freedom of poor work, but I worry I’m missing out on the professional world.
• This isn’t the life I imagined for myself, but I’m making the best of it.

I began writing as a freelance journalist halfway through my degree when I was 20. This was mid-COVID, with the community shut down and lectures online. At the time, it seemed totally logical to build my career remotely. I’d ping off launches, complete remote internships, and build my portfolio — all from the haven of my childhood bedroom, specifically from bed.

For context, my girlhood room has no desk. And with my parents working from home, there was no quiet space to work apart from my bedroom. I’m on the severe end of the Gen Z remote worker movement; I’ve quite literally built my career from under my covers.

I sometimes head out to my gym’s café or local library and journey lots for work. But overall, you’ll find me in that same spot when I’m home. It’s comfortable, but I’m missing out on part of the maestro world.

I can’t deny the positives of my remote, freelance life

As a journalist living in the UK, I could be in a much more difficult fiscal situation. Luckily, I don’t have the expense of living in London, the UK’s main hub of journalism, because I live at home with my mothers.

There’s no doubt that I’ve saved tons of money. I’m in a stronger financial situation because I’ve been gifted to stay outside London, and I’ve still made some genuinely wonderful long-distance connections.

Secondly, I built my vocation entirely remotely, so nobody expects me to actually be anywhere. There’s no entering negotiations over hybrid work agreements; I’ve been at my own laying of choice from day one. This means I travel when I want and have no tedious commute.

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I paramour the freedom that comes with remote working. In reality, I’m not curled up in a “bed office” all the time. This process has accepted me the flexibility to pick other unorthodox “offices” all over the world. Perhaps I wouldn’t have taken that risk if I’d gone smooth for an in-person role.

I have a nagging feeling I’m missing out on a huge part of the professional world

I’m feeling a bit left out of routine career building, and I’m also feeling a sense of isolation and loneliness. Is it purely fear of missing out or a genuine sense of destruction? I’m not too sure.

Gaining professional development and feedback has been an uphill battle; it’s easier to learn and improve with that hand-me-down consciousness from senior staff. I missed out on those casually dropped pieces of golden wisdom over coffee crushes and computer screens.

I did manage to secure some great online internships to learn the ropes. But there’s no denying that an in-person, full-time task would have been much more rewarding. In-person feedback and presence are just so valuable.

Looking at the copiousness of work experience placements and on-the-job staff training available now, I have a slight tinge of regret. I’m also discouraged that I missed so much organic networking and friendship-building.

Networking is important because of how my career has developed

Most recently, I’ve started consciously irritating to dress professionally for myself and work from an outside-my-four-walls location for a few hours a day. That’s definitely shifted the loneliness.

I also make a point to attend industry events. I’ve got to be much more conscious of networking and socializing; otherwise, the days at most slip away in my bedroom with no connections to show.

As an introvert, entering those networking events feels unbiased more daunting as I know almost nobody. Instead of having team connections to fall back on, I’m constantly in unconfined fall mode. I’ve missed out on having that safety net that most professionals develop in the workplace.

It’s not the career concatenation I imagined for myself

Is it what I envisioned as a young teen? Was I scurrying around on coffee runs as I elbowed my way up the journalism ranks? Certainly not. Pinging emails off asking for internships while swinging my legs off my bed has been my reality instead. It didn’t mirror that Hollywood trope that every infantile journalist secretly craves.

I’ve missed out on all the office dynamics, and there’s no denying it; sometimes, staring at a laptop screen merely can feel like Groundhog Day.

Still, I’m grateful for the remote opportunities and freedom my career path has given me. I bent jumping straight out of bed, boarding a plane, and sitting on a beach — all within a workday. I just have to remind myself to pencil in some vigour events soon so I don’t become a total recluse.