For the majority of humans trying to remember the hundreds of thousands things taught to us in school is near impossible. Retention of information can be broken down into three stages. If you practice and follow a few simple steps you can improve you retention abilities.
The first stage in the remembering process is acquisition. Where did you learn this or what event took place? It is crucial in the first stage to pay very close attention to what is being taught or taking place. The second stage of retention is the consolidation phase. This is when the memory or information is sent for storage in your long term memory. At this point in time the more you focus your concentration on the information the easier it will be to extract at a later time. It is also helpful to link the memory to an older memory as it will be easier to recover.
The third and final stage is the retrieval process. This is when you actually need to pull the information out and use it. The more you think about that thought before trying to retrieve it the easier it will be to actually retrieve it in the future. If you are still having troubles trying to retrieve a certain memory it helps to be in the same place you learned what you are trying to remember. This is just one simple way to help improve your memory and there are many others.
There are also a few strategies you should take while trying to retain knowledge. Contrary to popular belief paying attention really does help a whole lot. In order for something to store properly in your brain you must actually learn what it is. Also people are very different in all sorts of ways especially in the way we learn. Many of us learn in a particular way. It is best to figure out how you learn the best and use that to your advantage. When delving into very hard studies it is best to try and learn the basic of it then associate the more complex ideas with the basics, as it will allow for better comprehension and retention. Taking new information and linking it to older information is a useful trick when trying to remember lots of material.
As with anything to do with your body, being healthy is a major key. Eating nutritionally and getting plenty of exercise play a major role in your ability to remember. Getting plenty of rest and avoiding stressful situations are easy ways to help yourself out.