When you were first starting your business, you probably found yourself working long into the night and all through the weekend. This is pretty normal during the initial phase, in order to get the whole beautiful thing up and running, but it’s not a habit you should stick within the long term.

As a matter of fact, being a dedicated workaholic can actually have a damaging effect on the company that you’ve lavished so much love and care on. Here’s why:

You aren’t a robot

You do know this, right? But if you really believe it, you shouldn’t drive yourself as if you were one. Work-life trainer Joe Robinson points out that “Entrepreneurs are often celebrated for wearing multiple hats and logging numerous hours. But working without letup is a bad habit that can jeopardize business, health and the life you're supposedly working toward.”

CNBC reports that people who take some vacation time enjoy better mental health and a lower rate of heart attacks.

An eclipse reveals the truth

Back in August 2017, a full solar eclipse was visible in a path across the whole United States. Lots of people left work to experience this once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity. One dire prediction estimated that these absences would cost nearly $700 million. That deficit never materialized, however.

Apparently, when people went back to their jobs, they were more productive because of feeling inspired, and they made up for lost time. Psychology Today explains how your brain and body are refreshed by taking brief work breaks. This should be reassuring to small business owners because when you do manage a getaway, it's probably measurable in terms of hours or days, rather than in weeks.

Delegation is key

Before you can feel comfortable leaving all those crucial tasks behind you and even turning off your phone for a while, you have to trust the people you've put in charge. Delegating people to fill in for you is all well and good, but you won’t be able to trust those people unless you know their skills are up to the job.

Achievers, which explores the topic of employee engagement, notes that “better management includes facilitating the delegation of tasks.” They mention delegation specifically in reference to small business owners, and point out the fact that 82 percent of these entrepreneurs “find that they perform their duties with more energy if they take some time away from work.”

Developing the confidence to delegate

The whole challenge for a small business owner in delegating work to others is that too much of your business likely lives in your brain. How do you transfer the complex mental network of tasks to another person's mind? That’s where Trainual comes in.

We’ve set up a system that lets you dial in on a particular department, role, subject or process. You can create outlines, embed screenshots or videos, transfer content from existing docs, PDF's, or emails, and create step-by-step instructions that your team can easily follow.

Each topic or set of tasks can be created separately, and then you can assign it to a particular person or role. In this way, you’re only giving each person the information they need, while the overall result is a very complete company manual. Trainual even lets you track someone’s progress as they go through and complete the training steps so you know that when it's time to step out of the office, whether for the moment of an eclipse or to go backpacking Europe with your spouse and kids, you have the peace of mind that your team knows exactly what to do and how to get it done in your absence.

Get started with Trainual today and let us help you get a well-deserved breath of fresh air!