I realized that I can spend a great deal of time looking for the perfect organizer, which is becoming increasingly clear doesn't exist. Or I could try to KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) and try to use what's I've got. So, here is how I set up iCal to keep everything organized and moving forward. Please do make comments and suggestions; that's why I posted it here. I will expand on this as time allows; I have stuff that needs to get done now. My apologies if you are also on the 43 Folders or the Macintosh PIMs google groups.

I don't need 43 folders/tickler files as I can just put everything scheduled right where it belongs. I use manual To Do sorts to keep actions in order for Projects. When I'm ready to schedule To Dos, I drag them to the calendar and place them where I think I'm going to do them. After I have all the next actions on the calendar, I adjust the time range to reflect how long I think it's going to take and I move them around, so I don't over schedule, and so I can see the big picture and adjust priorities. To Do list is set to show current calendar view only.

I wish iCal To Dos would allow for recurring due dates, but because they don't, I just reset the date when they are done (if they recur), rather than checking the "completed" box. "Waiting For" items get alarms for reminders of when I need to followup. I am exploring using outline/notes/notebook to give me more depth in planning projects.

I have the following Calendars and Calendar groups(-Calendars are designated with a super hyphen; -Groups are designated with the reg. hyphen). I'm sure there are more groups and calendars here than some folks would like to see, but like I said above, I'd like even more depth. I keep the Calendar groups closed unless I need them open.

- In Bucket: This is for quick notes for what came to mind and I don't want to sort right away.

-Appts./Sched.: This is for all appts and schedules for me and anyone I need to keep track of (eg kids Dr. appts, field trips, school calendar, etc.) I set up the following calendars within this group:
- My appts (include work)
- Kid 1 appts
- Kid 2 appts
- Wife's calendar (subscribed to)
- School calendar (I think I might have to publish this to iCalShare
- My Schedule (for routines, eg jogging, poker night, etc.)
- Birthdays (from Address Book)
- US Holidays (from Apple)

-Work: This is only for work related stuff, so I can turn the whole group off when I want to. Calendars within this group include:
- Current Project A
- Current Project A1 (if I need to break it down)
- Current Project B
- General Business
- Finances
- Time sheet ( I typically bill by the hour so I need to keep track)

-Home: This includes any routine household things like:
- Shopping
- Auto maintenance
- House (eg Strome windows)
- Finances (paybills, reconcile)

-Personal Projects: This is for any projects (more than a couple of tasks)
- Addition
- Sailboat

-Someday maybe:
- General Ideas
- Potential Projects
- Work Ideas

-Community: This is for tasks only; meetings go to my Appts./Sched. above.
- Zoning Brd.
- PTA
- Politics

- Fun: This is to include anything that is just fun, and I include here things I see I might like to do (a concert next weekend, an AMC hike, Festival. etc..). Everything in this group is colored red. If I decide to do them, they get moved to my Appts./Sched. above.
- Music
- Hiking
- Patriot's Schedule (from iCalShare)

-Invisible Recurrring Stuff: This is a separate calendar for things that I have setup for alarm reminders, that I don't want cluttering my calendar (eg temporary medicine reminders, reminder to go to bed;-). You can set Events and To Do's with alarms, and then deselect this calendar so you don't see the them, but the alarms still work.