Ask HN: How to quantify improvements in human memory recall?

I have terrible memory/recall. Just awful. I've got my theories as to why, but it doesn't matter - I'm focusing on improvement. One of the areas I'd like to improve this on, is a personal knowledge databased tailored to storage (because I'm awful at memory) as well as retention through various methods of training, like spaced repetition.

With that said, what methods do you recommend to quantify memory/retention?

Obviously I'm going to be recording all of the results I have, whether I'm right/wrong, and analyze the data once it starts to build up. Yet, I fear that will be similar to mind-games, where you improve in the game itself, rather than improving intelligence/etc. I want another metric to measure my memory by.

Are there any proven methods to test the brains ability to store and recall memories? Very difficult I imagine, but I thought it would be worth asking.