Why isn't there a "the" in "I left work", but there is in "I left the office"?

Considering phrases of the form "I left [the] X", what causes some words to need a "the" before them, while it sounds awkward with others?

Needs "the":

• I left the office
• I left the bank
• I left the house
• I left the courthouse

Awkward with "the":

• I left work
• I left social media
• I left New York

Either way works:

• I left [the] school
• I left [the] church

Solution 1:

You use "the" on locations that are tangible:

I left the house.
I left the store.
I left the bank.

You don't use "the" on locations named by a proper noun:

I left New York.
I left Qualcomm Stadium.
I left Huntington Hospital.
I left David's house.

You don't use "the" on ideas that share a name with a generic location:

I left school. (means you quit going to school, can also mean having left a school for the day.)
I left work. (can mean you quit working, but more often means you have stopped working for the day)
I left church. (means you are leaving a service given at church)

...unless you specifically left that location:

I left the school.
I left the church.