My memory made a lot more sense to me when I learned it was a giant associative array, with multiple keys to look things up with. When I forget something I try various other "keys" to find it again, and that usually works.
For example, if I forget someone's name, I'll try their last name, or their spouse's name, guessing names that sound like their name, trying common names, various syllables, other memories associated with them, etc.
If I misplaced something, I'll try to reconstruct what I was doing the last time I remember having the item. When I find the item, that is the key that brings up the memory of putting it there.
A consequence of this is my memories are not in chronological order (not at all like a movie). I can clearly remember events but have no information about what order they are in or when they happened, unless there is some anchor in the memory to tell me (like where I was living at the time).
For example, if I forget someone's name, I'll try their last name, or their spouse's name, guessing names that sound like their name, trying common names, various syllables, other memories associated with them, etc.
If I misplaced something, I'll try to reconstruct what I was doing the last time I remember having the item. When I find the item, that is the key that brings up the memory of putting it there.
A consequence of this is my memories are not in chronological order (not at all like a movie). I can clearly remember events but have no information about what order they are in or when they happened, unless there is some anchor in the memory to tell me (like where I was living at the time).