Associate Reaches Inbox Zero by Leaving Firm

At 9:03 on her final morning at Alderwick March, Nina Bell had 12,406 unread emails. At 9:04 she had none.

IT had disabled her account six hours earlier than requested.

It was the first deadline the firm had brought forward in her favour.

Bell, a seventh-year associate, had spent much of her career attempting to manage an inbox in which every message described itself as either urgent or quick. The quick ones were longer.

She had tried colour-coding, rules, folders and a seminar in which a man with no clients told her to check her email twice a day.

“I tried that,” she said. “Between the first check and the second, a partner phoned my mother.”

The firm had offered her several reasons to stay, including a promotion to a position that did not yet exist and a promise that things would improve once the current busy period ended. Bell asked when the busy period had begun. Nobody present had been at the firm that long.

She is moving in-house at a company that manufactures hinges.

The recruitment partner expressed concern that this might limit her opportunities. Bell said she had already identified an opportunity to have dinner while it was still recognisably dinner.

Her exit interview asked whether a lack of resilience had contributed to her decision.

She asked whether anyone had ticked yes to that question.

The interviewer said the data was confidential.

When her account disappeared, Bell initially attempted to log back in. Her hand completed the first part of the password without consulting her.

Then she stopped.

She made a cup of tea. She drank it. There was still some warmth in it when she finished.

At home that evening, she put her phone in another room.

It stayed there. Nothing happened.

She checked this several times.