Remember the Hippocampus!
Learn techniques to effectively utilize your memory
What is a Hippocampus?
The Hippocampus is a brain structure that is chiefly in charge of all things related to memory. If a person suffers from Amnesia (either a "blackout" of past events called retrograde amnesia or the inability to form new memories called anterograde amnesia) then that means something has effected the Hippocampus, such as a traumatic injury, a traumatic experience, or use of certain drugs.
Create (Mostly) Regular Study Habits
The most important step to being able to properly employ your memory is to give it reasonable time and information to process. This means setting up a regular period of time to study, undisturbed and concentrated, on whatever needs to be learned. This is the most important step. This seems easy, but you need to make a conscious effort to pay attention to what you are learning. This may mean connecting the information back to the real world or your own life, creating mnemonic devices, and teaching the materials to others. There are two other tricks that can help solve the memory problem: getting enough sleep and occasionally adding a little variance to the study routine. Sleep has been proven to aid the process of committing information and skills to memory. As for the variation in the routine, that helps to keep you concentrated and on your toes. Further more, test yourself: tests help the memorization process immensely more than studying does.
That Feeling You Are Forgetting Something Important...
There are ways to circumvent this feeling, or at least prevent truly forgetting something important. First off, getting into the habit of writing down (or typing up) everything important--from homework to dates to ideas--will help prevent true loss of information, even though you are not actually remembering it. Other techniques include taking mental images of easy to lose items, such as keys, wallets, and flash drives, and there surroundings so as to make recall of its location easier.
John Thomas "J.T." Davis
J.T. Davis created this project for a high school psychology project.