Yeah, fair point. But what's stopping you from simply asking for some face-to-face time and scheduling it? Sometimes the best solution is to have a discussion

Yeah, fair point. But what's stopping you from simply asking for some face-to-face time and scheduling it? Sometimes the best solution is to have a discussion and it's a lot easier to do compared to writing. On those cases I just ask "can we have a meeting to discuss X?" and we schedule something. This gets you the help you the same results, without any interruption. Sure they could just pretend to not see your message and ignore it leaving you in a tough spot, but that's a problem with the person, not remote work IMO. Generally speaking, even if you're focused, you'll stop to have lunch, grab a snack, etc. And you then answer questions, setup a time to meet, etc.