Emails - a help or a curse?

As most people who know me have by now realised, I love email.

I can have a conversation with someone I couldn't normally speak to because they're busy when I'm free, but I can send an email and they can respond when they can, and vice versa.

However - as my friends and acquaintances will realise, I do quite a lot of things - I'm into politics, I work practically full-time, I volunteer and I campaign on anything from vegetarianism to government policies. On top of these, I love cooking and gardening (when the weather's fit), I read novels and I like puzzles (they are my 'me-time activities').

Everyone needs a little time to themselves to keep them sane, but when I take time out now, I miss things. It's very difficult to weed out those emails you no longer need, but I am still interested in many of the causes - I just don't have time to read them all, and I don't believe anyone should work (or volunteer) all their waking hours.

So what's the solution? I can't bear the thought of having them come into my phone as they arrive, so my phone would be constantly pinging as some people do. In any case, the coverage in this part of the country is pretty patchy and there is no chance that I would read emails while driving, so I'd still end up with a backlog.

Is there an answer? Or shall I just ignore the ones I can't get to? Answers on a postcard please - I might just read those!