Stever Robbins writes a mean list of email productivity tips.
Here’s what he says about constantly sending messages back and forth with certain people throughout the day.
Sometimes the problem is the opposite—sending 500 tiny messages a day will overload someone, even if the intent is to reduce this by creating separate threads. If you are holding a dozen open conversations with one person, the slowness of typing is probably substantial overhead. Jot down all your main points on a piece of (gasp) paper, pick up the phone, and call the person to discuss those points. I guarantee you’ll save a ton of time.
Obviously for those tied to their computer this using paper and telephone thing is for Neanderthals, but he’s right.