Mr Gordon said already this year he had presented four short courses on time management in the city, two in-house for companies wanting to improve their organisational effectiveness.
"Time management is all about optimising the use of the resource and having strategies to deal with the umpteen time-wasters that occur," he said. "The biggest benefit to the individual is that it frees up more time to allow you to do what you like doing, and reduces stress so you are in the best frame of mind to enjoy that time. Just think of the advantage to any company to have that kind of mindset within its staff - [it's] worth millions!"
Kellie Hamlett, director of Rotorua recruitment and human resource specialists Talent ID, said occasionally she heard from clients concerned about time wasting within their organisation.
"Those worries have been highlighted in the past three years or so with the tough economic times," she said. "The pressure is on and they need staff to multi-task and be efficient."
She said she had noticed a lot more businesses sending staff on time management and productivity courses.
While the study found using social media accounted for only 4 per cent of time lost at work, Ms Hamlett believes this is an area of concern in Rotorua.
"Time wasting on Facebook, playing games, sending personal emails is quite prevalent," she said. "Some employers are more aware of this than others."
Ms Hamlett said a lot of companies had removed "external stimulus", such as blocking access to social media sites not needed for day-to-day business.
"Some are becoming quite Big Brother-ish with what they block."
The Ernst & Young study indicates most time wasted comes not from individuals slacking off but from inefficiencies in processes. "It's easy to get stuck in the way we've always done something. Sometimes it takes a new staff member or changes to make you see better ways of doing things," Ms Hamlett said.
She said her own business had become significantly busier in the last eight months, prompting her to look closely at how it worked.
"It was a really good process to go through," she said. "My business had to be streamlined."
Five tips to manage your time
1. Decide Now
Decide what tasks can be completed within 10 minutes and do them. Completing short tasks rather than postponing them aids efficiency.
2. Diarise
As tasks arise, diarise them. This helps with planning.
3. Delegate
Where it is appropriate to do so, delegate.
4. Designate
Designate depending on the importance of your tasks. Make a list of tasks for the day and prioritise the most important.
5. Deposit and Delete
Create separate files for those non-urgent tasks and file them. Clear your inbox by deleting all unimportant emails.
