Across more than a hundred studies, things you connect to yourself are remembered better than things you connect to anything else. Psychologists call it the self-reference effect, and it's one of the steadier findings in memory research. Evidence: solid
Most of those studies used word lists in a lab, so treat the transfer to names and meetings as likely rather than proven. The mechanism is the same one behind stories: you're giving the fact a hook into something you already hold.
This is the honest version of the "emotion helps memory" idea you may have heard. Real shock does help, but you can't fake it for a list. Evidence: decent Relevance you can supply on demand.
Same theme: Learning it
Learning it
Coffee after, not before
Want a fact to stick? Have the coffee right after you learn it.
no timeEvidence: worth trying
Learning it
Hook the new thing to something you know
Learning a name, a fact, a process: ask what it reminds you of, and tie it there.
no timeEvidence: decent
Learning it
Learn it last thing before lights out
The thing you need to remember goes in the final fifteen minutes before sleep. Not the phone.
15 minEvidence: decent