My strategy is basically: -> Politely ask colleagues to send you an IM instead of discussing in person. The context switch hit from a conversation is significa

My strategy is basically: -> Politely ask colleagues to send you an IM instead of discussing in person. The context switch hit from a conversation is significantly worse than from an IM. -> Answer questions by making/editing a wiki page then send a link. Although I find this is less helpful for one off questions or during times of super high work load. -> If you've helped person X with a similar problem in the past then simply outsource the question to person X. -> Worst case (especially if someone asks the same question multiple times) play dumb :)