When it comes to clerical tasks, I tend to check emails first thing in the morning (and do other task), but also throughout the day during down time. I think if a person is going to only check emails at a certain time of the day, there ought to be a disclaimer alerting people to that fact. Some of my clerical tasks are higher priority because they involve checking students work and post-testing. One thing that I do that keeps things moving is having the students check with my TAs (also students) for questions before they contact me, as well as pre-checking their work before requesting a final check from me.
