I have mixed feelings about this. It does appear to be inefficient in the sense that we do not have full days of testimony and do not have a full week of testimony at a time. That is frustrating and seems like it could be managed better.
However, I understand why the judge cannot start until 10:00 -- she has other matters she had to attend to before the trial day starts. There has to be a lunch and afternoon recess for the jurors -- some are smokers and you have to give them a chance to get a snack, go to the bathroom and check in with family, etc. then they have to end the day by 4:30 so Jodi can meet with her lawyers and get back to jail by dinner time. So I don't really see any practical way they could extend the trial days unless all jurors got together and asked to skip the afternoon recess or have a shorter lunch.
I am not sure why they don't have trial days on Fridays. It might be because Fridays are administrative days or some other reason. I've also seen some judges hold trial on weekends to move things along. But I think Maricopa county does not have the budget to pay court personnel overtime, so that is probably not an option.
The fact that the trial is taking months does not mean its costing the taxpayers any more -- the salaries for the judge, the county attorney's office and court personnel are going to be paid, irrespective of whether they are in court for this case or a different case.