Methods and apparatus for organizing a distributed network based on routine usage data. In one exemplary embodiment, devices analyze routine usage data via e.g., machine learning and/or other heuristics to determine a set of routine rules and/or routine trigger conditions. Multiple devices may be assigned routine rules and/or routine trigger conditions that establish a fog network. Various described embodiments may incorporate time-shifted control plane operation and/or ledger-based control plane operation; these variants do not require central network management. Other optimizations may include dynamic selection of network topologies and/or routing technologies.