A growing number of companies (us included) are adopting the 4-day work week following promising results out of Microsoft, Japan. 

Microsoft introduced a program this summer in Japan called the "Work Life Choice Challenge," which shut down its offices every Friday in August and gave all employees an extra day off each week.

The results were great! While the amount of time spent at work was cut dramatically, productivity (measured by sales per employee) went up by almost 40% compared to the same period the previous year.

By shutting down earlier each week, the company was also able to save on other resources, including electricity.

Microsoft says it will conduct another experiment in Japan soon and it plans to ask employees to come up with new measures to improve work-life balance and efficiency, and is also urging other companies to join the initiative.