'Effortlessly, Being True to Myself': Finding Comfort in Cleaning Work

I am in the cleaning industry. I do daily cleaning of apartments. Common areas, the places where everyone lives are private areas, so I mainly clean the hallways, entrances, elevator lobbies, and other common areas with a vacuum and mop, and sweeping is the main task. In my case, I mainly work in the morning, so it usually takes about 3 to 4 hours to finish a site. Other people work full-time, but I chose this job because the hours and commute location were the best when I saw the job posting, and now I work part-time.

Before my current job, I was doing temporary work like cleaning share houses, which are popular now. After starting that cleaning, I realized I wasn't bad at it, in fact, I liked it, and I started wanting to work regularly. That's when I started searching for cleaning jobs on job sites. Until then, I was mainly doing office or customer service work, so it was a big change. I have family members in the cleaning industry, so I talked to them and got an idea of what it was like, but I didn't really think I would do it myself at the time.

The first place I worked at, and still do, had a system where you go to the site, read the manual, and organize everything from scratch. Even though I had cleaned houses before, I had never done it as a job, so for the first 1 to 2 weeks, I didn't know how to allocate my time or what to clean within the given time. After I started working at my current place, I learned from others, so I heard about places where you can cut corners and such. At first, I was running out of time, so managing my time was a bit difficult.

The flow of work is to take out the trash and sweep the main areas first. Then do the emergency stairs and mop the areas I swept. Also, the trash area gets dirty, so I clean that, and then vacuum all the floors. That's usually how my day ends. Yes.

Since I vacuum each floor, I don't know how much noise is heard inside the rooms, and I don't know the family composition. So, I pay attention to the timing, especially since I start early in the morning. I'm careful about noise and stubborn dirt around the doors, so I clean those areas slowly or adjust the volume of the vacuum. I'm not given specific instructions, but I'm aware of these things and have a sense of tension.

The way I use each tool, the way I move my body, even the way I wring the mop, I didn't know these things when I started, but I was taught them. Doing it the way cleaning professionals do it, without using too much force, is clearly different from 3 years ago. It's completely different from how I used to do it.

I meet some residents frequently, and those people have gradually... In my image, residents and cleaners in an apartment don't really interact much, but I've started to have interactions. Even something as small as how to dispose of trash, residents consult me, and we have little communications, which I think is good for me.

I like processing various tasks, as I mentioned earlier. When there's a lot of dirt, I find myself enjoying it. I don't really feel like I'm cleaning; it's more like an extension of my daily life, so I enjoy that a lot. I don't have a strong sense of 'I'm cleaning' or 'I'm working hard.' The only difficult or unpleasant part is sorting trash. Even that, I find somewhat enjoyable. My previous job was completely different, and I thought it suited me, but I've found that my current job suits me even better, which is a new discovery for me.

My previous jobs were mainly customer service, reception, and office work, so I interacted closely with people. Now, it's just greetings and light communication like I mentioned earlier, but in terms of job content, I think this job suits me better because I can work on my own. Based on my experience, I think some people who were in customer service might be better suited for this job.

I do have to climb stairs, so physically, I'm quite full-time, working five days a week. In terms of sleep, I sometimes feel unexpectedly tired because I need more hours. Mentally, I haven't had any bad encounters, and there aren't many human relationships like in customer service, which is the best part. In terms of work, it's only physical fatigue, just a bit tired.

In my case, I think my current job suits me, so I'm quite satisfied with both my income and the job. There were higher-paying office jobs, but they had parts that were very stressful for me. Considering that, even if my current income is slightly lower, I'm satisfied because it suits my lifestyle better. The content of my current job and my initial expectations were high, so everything combined, I have no problems.

I feel healthy, I can move my body, I earn an income, and I think my current job is helping others. I think that's different from working alone at home or something, so I feel quite fulfilled. My personality has always been like this, and I've tried different jobs and felt they didn't quite fit due to human relationships, but now everything seems to fit perfectly, so I'm not really trying hard. I'm not working hard on purpose.

I want to continue doing the same job, ideally in the same place. Even if my residence changes, I want to keep doing the same type of work. I think I'll probably be doing the same job. I'd like to continue. Since it's apartment cleaning, it's something that almost never disappears. So, if possible, I'd like to continue in the same place as long as I can.

I think many people have a negative image, maybe because they hear it in interviews, but it's not like that at all. So, for example, if you're not a germaphobe and enjoy working alone even a little, you should give it a try. Depending on the site, there's a high chance you'll like it, so I think it could be fun. You won't know until you try any job, and I didn't expect to do this either. Yes.