I am not laughing at you at all, Sueb. I'm the same way. We moved to the Google calendar a while back but I can't enter anything in it from my phone. I ask the doctor (or salon or whoever) to write down the appt for me on a card and then enter the date on my desktop when I get home. (Did it on my phone once and it didn't "take" so now I can't trust it. And yes, I've forgotten to enter appointments when I get home.) I have a little basket on my desk with business cards and tickets. I add notes in the Google calendar of things I need to bring with me to appointments (doctor's referral, blood requests, etc.) What's nice about Google calendar is the notifications and notes. You can set it for days or hours ahead of the appointment. I do it for everything. Sometimes, there's stuff to prepare ahead of time. Won't lie: the fridge is a good place to put up reminders for us. Not pretty but it works.

I've heard tickler files are good places for tickets, etc, but we need to remember to check it every day. Systems exist but they have to work for us. Sometimes, it takes a lot of trial and error. Knowing ourselves is essential. For example, I'm very much "out of sight, out of mind" so tucking action items away in files is usually not a good idea for me.

I am so interested in this topic. I have a system just like yours, sueb.

I often say, "I'll check my calendar when I get home" as well!

I wouldn't dissuade you from joining the modern world, however, when I remember, I snap a picture of my weekly calendar and maybe the following week as well, so it's on my cell phone, and I check my calendar that way.

Then, I have one of those flip-cases for my cell phone, and I tuck appt reminder cards in there, and transfer them into the paper calendar-book I keep at home. With a pen.

I’ve used an electronic calendar for many, many years. Most of my supporting documents and even tickets are electronic these days. A lot of times I cut/paste things into the calendar appt - like airline itineraries. I also make various email folders for that kind of thing. If it’s paper I have a little organizer on my desk with vertical slots and I put things in there in chronological order. Sometimes I take photos of paper things and just keep a copy on my phone.

Sue I recently stopped using my datebook as well. It's not an easy transition and doesn't address all need for me. I do use Google calendar and it works for most things. But I do not like the reminder system - it's not intrusive enough for me. I want bells and whistles and a big bold banner on my screen. That's what I had on my old phone and it was great. This phone everything is more subtle. Like you, those notes and papers need a place to go. So far I'm in a not pretty transition stage with lots of stuff sitting on my desk. Honestly I think there's a lot to be said for not being connected and online for every aspect of our lives. Another friend of mine is struggling with hacked accounts (she's not the first) and trying to limit losses. You have my permission to continue using your datebook.

Haven't read all the answers, but why are these things paper? Hotel confirms, tickets, etc???? I am hard pressed to think of things i need in paper form, except keepsakes.

Especially since my gmail automatically takes things from my email and puts them on my calendar.

ETA, I had a funny incident with this recently. I looked at my calendar, and it said I was checking into a hotel the next day. For a month.

I kind of panicked because I tend to make nonrefundable plans and this was not an inexpensive place and it was a month, for 5 of us!

I am like, WTH ?

I finally figured it out. I am checking into a hotel on July 4 for one night, checking out the next day. So my stay is 7/4-7/5. But the hotel is in Europe. So somewhere something read it as 4/7 to 5/7. I was relieved to figure that out (and it is a snafu in the hotel's system somewhere, because I have a correct confirm from them and I have never had this happen with European bookings before.)

I use Google calendar and also have a Gmail address.

Hotel reservations and airline tickets sent to my email automatically populate on my calendar. Google hasn't integrated train tickets yet.

You also have the option to add other calendars to yours, my husband and I do that.

That way, we know what's up with each other schedule-wise without having to ask. So, basically, we share a calendar but add our own events separately.

We also use Amazon Echo/Alexa throughout the house including an Echo Show. The calendar notifications display on the Echo Show.

You can also just ask Alexa 'what's on my calendar today?' or tomorrow, day, time, specific date, etc. You can also add or delete events, appointments, etc. with Alexa.

I've used an electronic calendar for almost two decades, but you will pry my Filofax out of my cold dead hands. Redundancies are good, right?

For any physical things like g/c, pretty invitations, I just keep them on my desk, displayed or in a toast rack type thingy. There are fewer and fewer physical things to keep track of.

I like paper. It's my preference to keep a small notebook in my purse...

So I'm no help and won't laugh.

I just wanted you to know that you're not alone.

I keep the paper items in a small file box on my desk. I make a note on my calendar on the date of the event that there is a hard copy that I need on that date to remind me that I need something from the file.

Not to hijack your thread, but I had a weird thing happen last week. I use the American Airline app to hold my boarding passes. My flight was delayed a few hours and the gate changed because a different plane was deployed. My electronic boarding pass showed as expired and nothing I did could get it refreshed. I checked with another passenger who was using the same app and their pass updated. Luckily, I had a paper boarding pass because I'm paranoid about electronic glitches on mission critical items. Anybody ever have this happen and have a solution?

Fun2B - Never had that issue with an electronic pass but I have gone to the airport to find that none of the scanners at TSA are working and everyone without a paper boarding pass is being re-routed back to airline counters or kiosks and of course the back up is nuts. Has happened to me twice at different airports so I'm also paranoid and print out a pass.

Ack! See? That’s why I have paper stuff.

I always carry a paper boarding pass since I was in line once and the scanner bulb at TSA burned out and only paper was getting through.

I always take a screenshot of my boarding pass, just in case. Also make sure the airline has your passport info etc. When I get to the airport, if i have time,which is usually, I print a boarding pass as well.

I do the same thing with theatre tickets.

I hate the electronic calendar! I like to see the whole month at one time and on the phone screen, it is too small to be useful. I use a paper calendar and take a picture of the current month so I can check it if I need to make an appointment when I'm away from home. That is not an issue very often and hopefully they won't stop making paper calendars until I'm extinct!

I love my electronic calendar and have pretty much phased out my analog calendar but I know exactly what you mean about paper copy tickets and such. I keep them on my desk spot for such and also have them in my mailbox as ‘unread’ mail so I know they are still there to ‘read’ and remind me of the event. I use Outlook

I use Delta airlines reminders that will update me (sometimes more often than I would like) but you can set up reminders for flight departures and gate info for how ever many hours in advance of flight times you desire. For international I set it up for something like 6 hours and for domestic around 2-3 hours and then it updates at least every hour or more if there are changes. Really helps.

I prefer the little free Hallmark calendar booklet. I keep it in my purse so I never have to check when I return home. I added a plastic sleeve to the inside back cover and that's where I stash store receipts while I'm shopping - and it's also where I put receipts for items that need to be returned.

I am Shee and I like paper. :)

I like paper. I use and keep a small calendar datebook in my purse. Oh, I have some things electronic but stuck with paper too and I was trying to do both and it’s just easier. Plus, my calendar is funky on my phone and doesn’t work as it should.

Speaking of paper tickets. If they want me to use paper the company should print them out and mail them to me. I’m tired of using my paper and printer ink for tickets.

Well i am slowly transitioning to electronic. DH is a big fan and we do share calendars so it's been very useful. I see some of you said gmail adds the event to the calendar and now I am stumped.

I got an email notice of a health appointment and I looked and it is not on the calendar.

I just entered it manually. Is there something else I need to do to enable the calendar to update from email?

I also have a question. A couple of events from my google calendar randomly popped up on my iPhone screen as reminders. But most of them do not. How do I get this to happen for all events I enter in the calendar?

Sue, if you go in to edit the event in google there is a notification that can be set for however far in advance you want to be reminded. You can also just add reminders in addition to actual appointments. After using Outlook forever because of work, I’ve switched all my personal stuff to Google with retirement coming up. I really like that I can now put personal stuff on DHs calendar - something I would not do on company Outlook.

I am one of those folks who keep a double calendar... one on the paper calendar I get every year, and the other on Google calendar. One way or the other - and usually both - I get reminded.

So- can anyone tell me if I need to enable something in the email to get the appointment email to show up in calendar?

Usually there is an ‘add to calendar’ button somewhere in the event page that allows it to be added to your calendar. Otherwise, I just manually add it when I purchase the tickets, make the reservation, or whatever, just like I would do in my old paper calendar.

"When you get an email about an event like a flight, concert, or restaurant reservation, it's added to your calendar automatically. If you don't want events from Gmail on your calendar, you can delete a single event, or change your settings so that events aren't added automatically."

There are a few reasons why an event from Gmail may not show up in Calendar.

You didn't receive the email directly

Events won't show up if the email was:

• Sent to a mailing list
• Sent to you by cc
• Redirected from another email account

The confirmation email wasn't from certain types of businesses

Events are only added if they are in confirmation emails from businesses about:

• Flights
• Hotels
• Restaurants
• Ticketed events like movies and concerts

--- sometimes you may be prompted to ask if you want it added to your calendar

I use Google Keep more than my calendar. It's like a virtual bulletin board and you can take photos and voice memos too. It syncs across my various devices, even from Apple to Android. It also has the option of alerts/reminders.

I like to have a paper calendar as well. Nothing wrong with multiple backups.

And I like to print out paper boarding passes as well, easier to reference when schlepping around at the airport. I keep the email confirmations for backup.