I sent to my client a quick update about a project and in response he sent me back an email with the following sentence:
"You are hopelessly quick. You need some rest my friend. Will check it tomorrow."
So what does this suggest, is it in a negative or positive manner?
I read it as a positive statement, essentially that you are too much of a workaholic for your own good. It sounds like the situation was that you worked needlessly hard or stayed needlessly late to finish a project that he won't be able to look at until tomorrow, anyway.
"You need some rest my friend" means you don't need to work as hard as you do; take it easy.
"Hopelessly" quick means that your nature is to always strive to turn in work as quickly as you can, even when speed isn't needed (an eager beaver).
Such statements seem to deliver praise and criticism.
When people say "She's hopelessly {adjective}", they mean the trait the adjective refers to is so ingrained in her personality that there's no saving her from herself—there is no hope she could ever be turned into the opposite kind of person, and to some extent, that is a good thing about her.
She is hopelessly romantic means she can be counted on to make impractical choices but she has a good heart.
He is hopelessly dull means he can be counted on never to say or do anything interesting but he has no real vices.
Timely progress updates from a business associate are usually things to be appreciated. But if the speaker prefers a more leisurely pace—he may always have many tasks to accomplish and thus a need to pace himself—too much quickness on the part of an associate can be an unwanted trait.
He is hopelessly quick may therefore mean that he can be counted on not to slack off and delay things as he always puts in a good effort, though he may not know when to give his colleagues a respite from the relentless tasks confronting them.
I tried adding a comment instead but couldn't so I'll just leave it as an answer.
What I understand from you are hopelessly quick is that your client didn't expect or prepare for your sending the email as you sent it faster than he expected or too fast for him to be able to get ready for it. This could also mean that your client is unable to check the email due to some reason and that he is making an excuse for it by stating that he thinks you sent the email faster than he expected. I don't think this is a negative form because he stresses his inability to look into the email at the time you sent it and not the fact that you weren't supposed to send it that fast. Hopelessly here means too fast to have a hope of coping with your pace in a good way as in : - You are hopelessly fast, I will never have a chance to outrun you.
So the speaker here means that the listener is very fast and the speaker tries to use that praise as evidence to justify his inability to beat the listener. However, that is only my point of view and you can ask your client about it to fully know and understand the situation better and I am sure that further e-mails between you will clarify any hidden meaning.
