London: Working individuals spend two-and-a-half hours on an average writing emails every day, a new study has found, suggesting changes in the way people use computers that could make them 25 per cent more productive.

A poll carried out by McKinsey Global Institute based on a typical working week of 46 hours found that more than a quarter of most employees' time is wasted sending, receiving or sorting out emails instead of doing their jobs, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

Office goers on an average spend some 81 working days every year on their computers often emailing other people in the office.

The research highlights the contemporary tech-savvy culture where putting in prescribed hours in office regardless of how much work one actually does.

Assuming that an employee spends 13 hours a week on emails, works out as 28 per cent of the time they are at work on an average.

At least 25 per cent of the time could be made more productive without the use of social media or emails, the study said.

Researchers urged people to talk to those in their own office rather than email.

"It can cut off essential aspects of communication that can only be via face-to-face contact, like tone of voice, facial expressions and body language," relationship expert Jean Hannah Edelstein was quoted as saying by the paper.

"Turning to email can even escalate a conflict, such as if you write a long email rant about something that may be more easily clarified and sorted through a face-to-face conversation," Edelstein said.