I think the distinction between conversational emails and other emails is a fascinating one.

The single best tip I have for handling a high volume of email — whether conversational or informational — is to establish the use of “no reply necessary” or “NRN” at your office and among your regular correspondents, and to use it rigorously yourself.

If everyone agrees not to respond by email to any email marked NRN, it can dramatically cut down on the volume. Part of the problem with the way people use email is that people rarely make it clear whether they expect you to respond or not, and you wind up wasting time trying to figure out the right answer to that question. And you can do a huge favor to the people you are writing by letting them know when you don’t expect a reply. That also saves you getting an email back from them to which you then wonder whether you need to reply. And so on!

Of course, if you violently disagree with something or have a key piece of information, you can and should ignore the NRN.