Economies of Schedule

in #steem6 years ago

I got a kind of funny/not funny comment a while ago about the old 30 day payment window. The person has only been here during the 7 day window so I understand that it can be weird to think of waiting 30 days but, it also speaks of the way people and culture handle money around the world.

My first official job was at Burger King (Hungry Jack's in Australia) and my hourly rate was paid every week. This was great as I knew that on a Thursday, a little bit of money would go into my account and even if I spent too much, Thursday's were not too far away. I had a few part-time jobs similar that paid weekly.

When I was at university, the types of jobs changed (I had two jobs, a salaried one in retail and a media one with project work). The Retail position I held paid every two weeks which meant I had to manage my income a little more carefully than previously as spending too much the first, meant a week struggling. The media work paid monthly on a billing cycle which meant that I had to be even more careful with that as it would be a 'long time' before the next.

Comign to Europe, it all went monthly which took away my every two weeks safety net meaning I always had to be more careful. Then, when I started my business, billing works on the grace of large companies who do not care so much about schedules, will wait until the very last day to pay and these (for me) generally sit at 30, 60, 90 day payment terms.

What i wonder is how does the payment gap time change behaviour? My assumption is that those who have shorter payment schedules will be a little more reckless with their money as they know that the next payment is not too far away. Noodles for a few days is tenable. However, i think those with longer schedules are likely to be a little more careful with their finances as 2 or 3 weeks living skint is no fun at all. I know this well enough.

Now, when it comes to Steem, i wonder what would happen if there was a much longer payout period, would people invest more into it thinking that what they do now won't see reward for 30 or 60 days? Will they be more or less consistent with their content? Will newcomers coming onto the platform be more committed knowing that what they do now is setting up a base for their future?

Essentially though, nothing would change in payments as if one is consistently producing, after 30, 60 or 90 days, the payouts will start arriving consistently. Let's say there is a 60 day payout introduced, for the next two months no one would get anything but, after that it will start rolling again. Sure, that will make things difficult for those on here now who need to live off it but, if this was the norm for newbies, they would not know any different, just like those who never saw the 30 day window.

i am not suggesting this as an idea but, around the world there are very different cultural processes on how to manage money and I wonder how much effect it has on whether an individual is likely to plan well or not. I think that if there are longer payment schedules in the real world, people will be forced into learning how to manage their finances better.

Now, I wonder how much of it is planned considering it seems that in lots of lower-paid jobs, the schedule is one week but in higher-paid, 30 days. In Finland though, most jobs are paid on a monthly schedule no matter the level or age of the person doing the job. Does this have an effect on personal fiscal responsibility?

When it comes to managing personal finances, I made lots of early errors and I should be in a much better position than now. As I learned about this, I started to pull things together but since the birth of my daughter and a whole range of unforeseen issues, I am well and truly behind again. I am still learning and have a long way to go.

In general though, most people around the world don't have a very solid economic framework and in most of the world, most people live hand to mouth. When that comes to Steem, it seems to translate into a division between those who Power Up and those who extract constantly. Yes, immediate needs take precedence but many people have been here for many months and are still unsure how the basics of the Steem economy operates. As long as they get their payouts on a post, they don't seem to care.

This also tends to be one of those instant/delayed gratification opportunities where people can be nudged into being better prepared for their own futures. People may complain about this type of 'engineering' but, no matter what the code does, it is going to affect behaviours.

Again, I am not suggesting any changes to this at this point however, it is probably a good idea for every (and especially those who rely on Steem) to review their personal processes and see if their behaviours are creating a better future for them or are they working on the habit that will continually having them live hand-to-mouth?

Cryptocurrency, Steem, blockchain and the coming uses of them are all tied to economy and how it can be manipulated into changing the behaviours we currently live by. I find it interesting how few people are actually interested in discovering what it all does now, potential capabilities and, what that might mean for their experience.

A few Monday thoughts.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

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but for a newbie, it is like 50 to 60 days payout system because a newbie hardly get 30 sbd in 60 days 😞

I used to hate corporate clients paying me months after the work was completed. I did all my contracts at 30 days net, which of course they pushed to 30 business days. I couldn't say that it affected my budgeting other than annoying the hell out of me. But in general being self-employed, you have a different time scale for budgeting. You don't necessarily know when the next deal will be signed, so for me I was always budgeting out of a 12 month reserve. A late payment only created a problem when I needed to do something big like pay taxes or put the down payment on a house and a $50k payment was late.

When I try to translate that into Steemit terms, I'm not sure. I still don't ever cash out, only power up and invest more, so I think I'm not really relating to it like money yet. I'll consider this question when I reach my target amount for starting to withdraw funds.

Since I left college many moons ago I've always worked for myself, so my earnings have often been hit and miss. I don't think it's taught me particularly good money management skills, but it's certainly taught me the ability to live off of next to nothing when necessary.

That would be one way to cut back drastically on the amount of money going to bots that I wouldn't argue with.

30 days before payout for someone like me who lives off my post payout will be a bit difficult to handle especially at a time like this when I am dire need of money to solve personal problems.

Then again as my only source of income, I will be stupid not to plan for the future here. I think that is the area no one is really talking about. Most people think that posting here is just a means to make spare cash for their daily activities, they do not consider it to be an investment opportunity. That is where the mistake lies.

Investment in steem should be more clearly defined by those who know how to go about it. Whether through trading, or being part of projects, or something else, there are so many ways to grow finances here.

I am still learning and everyday is a new experience. I hope one day that I will be able to show people what this platform can offer if they are willing to give it some trust.

30 days before payout for someone like me who lives off my post payout will be a bit difficult to handle especially at a time like this when I am dire need of money to solve personal problems.

But, if the platform was designed that way before you were here, you wouldn't think anything of it. You would already have adjusted as there was no adjustment necessary.

There are lots of ways to earn here but most people will spend their time looking to be entertained.

There are lots of ways to earn here but most people will spend their time looking to be entertained

Exactly! I think the issue is that lots are satisfied with what they make from their posts. They do not see any reason why they should aspire beyond just content creation. They do not see the possibilities that the steem blockchain offers.

The steem blockchain is like a newly independent country. There are those who are satisfied with their corner kiosk, minding their business and staying below radar, there are those who are ambitious and are seeking for ways to turn this wild wild west into a manor and there are those who were the direct beneficiarjes of this independence. They have the resources but they lack imagination or ambition and as such they cannot impact this country. These people need to wake up

I don't think reducing the velocity of STEEM is a good idea. We want as much activity as possible which will translate to more users and more demand for STEEM.

It is an expecting society now. They expect everything now like an instant cash machine paying for their lavish lifestyles on beer money. If Steem paid in 7, 15, 30 or even 60 days it means nothing to me I don't plan to take a cent. It's all about growing and having a different attitude. Could you imagine this lot running a business. They would be buying cars and all sorts in no time and be wondering why the business failed. You can see the accounts on here that won't make it as they stick out.

Could you imagine this lot running a business.

they are running perhaps the easiest business opportunity out there already and, failing.

They can't see it. Tonight I did a post about growing and being more involved by commenting and voting. I got some votes and no comments. Obviously they are not reading. You can't spoon feed them any more if they can't do the basics.

To me, one of the big draws of Steemit, for me, was that you could get paid to do here... what you already do elsewhere for free. I have always hated facebook... and tried sharing my photography there. It's nice to get a like or emoji... but SBD and Steem feel a lot better when I look at my wallet. The people I have met are awesome and there is more vested interest to care here.

Having said all that, one of the downsides when I first got here was that the payout window was only 7 days. I didn't come here to get rich quick or take a Lambo to the Moon. I came here because one of my Youtube subs told me to check it out. I was only used to the meager monthly revenue share (assuming I break the monthly payout threshold) on my content there... but the ability to generate revenue was for as long as folks could come to view the content.

So, as a direct comparison of the payout methods... there is a trade-off on a few levels. Since I was never on Youtube for the money either... I wasn't too concerned. The more I learned about the Steem ecosystem and the Steemit platform the more it made sense. I don't see how a reward pool could work if the payout period never ended.

In the long-run, I have come to find that both "The Early Bird Gets The Worm" and "Patience Is A Virtue" are equally true. The culture is geared towards instant gratification and max return for least amount of investment. I think that time is the most valuable investment... so anyone who isn't willing to invest the time probably doesn't deserve the reward.

Interesting subject. For example, the inflation in my country (venezuela) is so high (google it) that is actually better to receive weekly pays and buy everything you're going to consume as soon as posible because the prices rise constantly and faster than the salaries. It's an economy in crisis. That's why my compatriot steemians have the habit of cashing out their sbd asap. The sad thing is that steemians from countries with a more stable economy do the same mistake.

I live in Nigeria and most jobs here pay on a monthly basis. However, the problem here is that we have low-income paying jobs and most people need to survive so they take out loans which in a long run puts them in the financial crisis. So the point I'm trying to make is: delaying gratification in terms of a longer payout system might not curb this financial indiscipline, and such a change might grossly affect the steemit ecosystem, positively or negatively. Personally im not ready for that kind of change now.
The present payout system works for me because it enables me purchase data that allows me access to the internet, and i spend most of my time on steemit, so to me its more or less a reinvestment into the platform. But i will also like a framework thats allows authors to earn long after they've posted an article or anything tangible, and i think you made mention of that in your last article

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