The whole point of knowledge work is that you are doing things that have not been done before. If they had, they would already be scaled or automated. In a chef analogy, you should be inventing new dishes, not running a meal service.
A chef running a meal service is supposed to cook a meal for every order that comes back to the kitchen. A knowledge worker is not supposed to handle every little request that comes their way. As a knowledge worker, if you’re not disappointing some people, you are probably not doing your best.
If you are overwhelmed with tasks as a knowledge worker, the solution is not to seek greater efficiency in handling them. The solution is to do incredible work on the ones that actually matter, and half-ass or ignore the rest. If you’re not sure which is which, finding out is job #1.
People who efficiently do everything they are asked are rewarded with more asks. People who do great high-impact work are not held back because they dropped some emails along the way.
I’m not saying it’s bad to be efficient at processing email and tracking requests, I’m just saying it probably matters less than many people think, and almost certainly less than this article implies.