[ field log ]

※ Planetary Scheduling as Situated Infrastructure

Field Log - in progress / studio note

Codex workspace field notes on temporal coordination

FIELD LOG4 min read

Context

This phase of codex-workspace explores the use of astrological timing systems, custom agent orchestration, and personal data streams to construct a situated, adaptive scheduling environment.

Rather than treating time as neutral or interchangeable, this project treats time as layered: astronomical, physiological, social, and computational. The system attempts to coordinate these layers into a usable planning interface for daily work and long-term projects.

At its core, this is an experiment in whether planetary timing, automation, and self-tracking can function as a form of personal research infrastructure.


System Overview

The current prototype integrates:

  • A core astrological calculation library derived from astrotechne.com
  • Custom agent workflows for data ingestion, synthesis, and scheduling
  • A unified schema for representing tasks, energy states, and temporal windows
  • Personal biometric, behavioral, and activity data streams

These components are assembled into a planning system that generates suggested work windows, rest periods, and task sequencing based on both symbolic and physiological signals.

The system is not designed to automate decisions, but to externalize patterns that are otherwise difficult to perceive.

Scheduler TUI showing Tasks, Calendar, Astro, Picker, and Scheduler grid with Venus day, Saturn hour, planetary hours, and task/calendar integration
Scheduler TUI in integrated mode. Venus day, Saturn hour. Tasks, calendar events (including planetary hours), astro data, picker, and scheduler grid visible.

Data Sources

The workspace currently incorporates:

Astronomical / Astrological

  • Planetary positions
  • Transits
  • Lunar phases
  • Planetary hours
  • Electional timing rules

Biometric and Behavioral

  • Wake and sleep times
  • Heart rate and variability
  • Meal timing
  • Periods of sustained focus
  • Fatigue indicators

Activity and Environment

  • Location data (home / external)
  • Movement patterns
  • Device usage (phone and computer)
  • Application switching behavior
  • Session duration

Economic and Logistical

  • Credit card and banking transactions
  • Purchase timing
  • Recurring expenses
  • Travel and mobility patterns

All data streams are normalized into a shared temporal model before being evaluated by coordinating agents.


Experimental Aim

The primary research question is:

Can planetary timing systems, when combined with embodied and behavioral data, function as a practical accessibility and planning tool rather than a symbolic overlay?

This is especially relevant in the context of disability-aware workflow design.

Rather than optimizing for productivity in the abstract, the system attempts to respond to fluctuating capacity, sensory load, cognitive fatigue, and recovery cycles.

The goal is not to “optimize” the self, but to reduce friction between intention, capacity, and timing.


Agent Architecture

Custom agents perform several roles:

  • Parsing astrological data into actionable windows
  • Identifying recurring energy patterns
  • Correlating physiological states with timing conditions
  • Detecting overload, stagnation, or burnout trajectories
  • Proposing alternative schedules when thresholds are crossed

Agents are deliberately constrained. They do not issue commands. They surface tendencies, conflicts, and alignments.

This maintains human judgment as the final authority while externalizing pattern recognition.


Disability-Aware Scheduling

A core motivation of this project is accessibility.

Conventional productivity systems assume consistent capacity. This system assumes variability.

The scheduler attempts to:

  • Protect recovery periods
  • Avoid stacking cognitively dense tasks during low-capacity windows
  • Align demanding work with historically supportive timing conditions
  • Build in buffers for unpredictability
  • Recognize early signs of overload

This reframes scheduling as a form of care rather than discipline.


Planetary Timing as Interface

Planetary systems are treated as interface layers rather than belief systems.

They function as:

  • Temporal indexing mechanisms
  • Pattern generators
  • Attention-focusing devices
  • Narrative frames for planning
  • Constraint systems that encourage pacing

Their value here is not metaphysical certainty, but structural usefulness.

They introduce rhythm, differentiation, and context into otherwise flattened calendars.


Observations

Early use suggests several patterns:

  • Certain planetary configurations correlate with sustained attention more reliably than clock-based blocks
  • Fatigue clusters appear before calendar congestion becomes visible
  • Economic activity reflects energy cycles more than anticipated
  • Location shifts strongly affect timing efficacy
  • Over-automation reduces interpretive clarity

The system works best when treated as a reflective surface rather than an authority.


Ethical and Practical Constraints

This project operates under strict personal data governance:

  • No external data sharing
  • Local-first processing where possible
  • Transparent transformation pipelines
  • Human override at all stages
  • Regular audits of agent behavior

The aim is augmentation, not surveillance.


Current Limitations

  • Incomplete sleep-stage modeling
  • No reliable emotional-state inference
  • Limited long-term predictive stability
  • High configuration overhead
  • Risk of symbolic overfitting

The system remains experimental and interpretive.


Relation to Broader Practice

This work extends ongoing interests in:

  • Ritualized systems
  • Dramaturgical design
  • Technical mediation
  • Collective and individual timing
  • Infrastructure as cultural practice

The scheduler functions as a personal ritual-technical artifact: part instrument, part archive, part performance structure.


Next Steps

Planned development includes:

  • Adaptive ritual calendars
  • Multi-agent conflict resolution
  • Improved fatigue modeling
  • Longitudinal pattern analysis
  • Selective public-facing visualizations

Long-term, this may evolve into a generalized framework for disability-centered temporal design.


Working Hypothesis

Time is not neutral.

It is produced through bodies, systems, symbols, and institutions.

This project asks whether it can be re-produced otherwise.

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