As you age you start forgetting things that you used to remember clearly. It has happened with me multiple times. I used to remember/recall cricket scores of almost every match played by India in 1990s and 2000s but now I can't even recall who won MoM awards in last two Indian victories. I always wanted to know how our memory system works and how to sharpen it. I found this book 'Moonwalking With Einstein' while browsing and I read it and I found answers to few of my questions not all.
It's a good book and it talks about concepts like 'Memory Palaces', 'Mind Mapping', 'OK Plateau' etc. Written by Joshua Foer it says that The Brain is like a muscle and memory training is a form of a mental workout. Over time, like any other form of exercise, it will make the brain fitter, quicker and more nimble. Brain records everything to which it pays any degree of conscious attention, and that this recording is permanent.
The book talks about plasticity of brain. It says that the brain is a mutable organ, capable within limits of reorganising itself and readapting to new kinds of sensory input, a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity.
Experts say that there is a limit on our brain to process information. We can only think about roughly Seven things at a time. Magical number Seven is the universal carrying capacity of our short term working memory (similar to cache of a processor).
Sometimes we hit a plateau while learning a skill it means we are not improving any further. It happens with most of the people. The Secret to improving a skill is to retain some degree of conscious control over it while practicing. I.e. to get consistent feedback and to experience failing.
What I think after reading this book pretty thoroughly is this that no technique will make you have Photographic Memory. What you actually need are Good sleep (7-8 hours), consciously observing/reading events/books and getting rid off consistent social media chirping and screen exposure.
A Highly Recommended Book (9/10)
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