[cryptica]

The most effective trick for me is simply knowing why I need to remember something.

If I don't know its utility value, I won't even be able to recall it an hour later. On the other hand, if I can see the utility, I might be able to remember it decades later after a single exposure.

If I'm using a map with GPS on my phone to find my way around a city, I won't be able to recall any of the buildings or landmarks later and I won't be able to find my way around even after many journeys. On the other hand, if I use street signs and ask around for directions, I will remember everything. In the former case, my brain knows that it can rely on the map and GPS so it doesn't waste resources trying to remember streets, buildings and landmarks.

[kbelder]

My wife has tried to explain to me the difference between hand-towels, wash-clothes, dish-towels, face-cloths, and so on, and so on, and... It's not that I don't want to understand; I'd like to help her fold them, put them out, etc. It's just that I'm constitutionally unable to retain that information. I think I can't, at a profound level, generate any interest in learning this, no matter how firmly I have consciously decided I want to.

I can kind of tell the difference between 'towels' and 'rags'.

[cryptica]

I have similar 'issues'. My wife tends to fuss over tiny details that seem completely irrelevant to me. It's not that I don't want to make an effort to comply with her more stringent expectations, it's that I don't even notice those details to begin with. It's distracting to think about them. My mind is always trying to minimize its mental load by focusing only on things that it deems necessary. I guess it's a more 'entrepreneurial' mindset?

Most mathematicians seem to be able to remember anything regardless of utility value. I guess that's why I chose a more engineering/business career.