Send out delayed responses – Type your response directly, but schedule it to be sent out in a few days. This works great for conversations that are nice but not terribly urgent. By inserting a delay in each go-around, you both get to breathe easier.
Ignore it – Yes, ignore e-mail. If something’s important, you’ll hear about it again. Trust me. And people will gradually be trained to pick up the phone or drop by if they have something to say.
Answer briefly – When someone sends you a ten page missive, reply with three words. “Yup, great idea.” You’ll quickly train people not to expect huge answers from you, and you can then proceed to answer at your leisure in whatever format works best for you. If your e-mail volume starts getting very high, you’ll have no choice.
Check e-mail at defined times each day. – We hate telemarketers during dinner, so why do we tolerate e-mail when we’re trying to get something useful done? When it’s e-mail processing time, however, shut the office door, turn off the phone, and blast through the messages. Link.