Mollie Eastman was an entrepreneur who found herself chasing solutions for severe insomnia, collecting ineffective sleeping pill prescriptions from doctors in Croatia, Budapest, and Italy. Instead of accepting this as her fate, she dove deep into understanding sleep for herself.
Now running Sleep is a Skill, Mollie has become a leading voice in sleep optimization. Her weekly "Sleep Obsessions" newsletter has been landing in inboxes every Monday for six years. Her sleep podcast ranks #2 in its category with nearly 200 episodes, while her database of Oura ring users provides real evidence of how sleep can improve with the right approach.
In this episode of The Augmented Life, Mollie breaks down why some "good sleep" signs might actually be red flags, how your bedroom's temperature is probably higher than it should be, and why instantaneous sleep isn't the superpower you think it is. Through her work with thousands of clients, she's proven that better sleep isn't about being a "good" or "bad" sleeper - but rather understanding and working with your body's natural rhythms.
Tune in to the full episode for Mollie's sleep expertise, and read on for five key takeaways that can help improve your relationship with sleep:
Keep scrolling for some great product recommendations that came up throughout the episode.
"I truly believe sleep is a skill and we can build this muscle no matter where you're at. For the listener, if they think of themselves as a good sleeper, not so great sleeper, doesn't matter. We can absolutely take things to the next level."
Our bodies naturally adapt sleep architecture to meet changing needs - increasing REM sleep during emotional challenges and deepening sleep after physical exertion. This natural variation shows why rigid sleep rules often fall short. Rather than targeting a fixed "perfect" pattern, improvement comes from creating conditions that support your body's adaptive capabilities. Working with thousands of Oura ring users, Mollie has found that everyone can improve their sleep metrics when they shift from viewing sleep as a fixed trait to treating it as a trainable skill.
"If you're falling asleep really easily, people say, I'm a great sleeper. This is not the conversation for me, I can fall asleep anywhere. That's actually a big red flag for us that either they're dealing with sleep deprivation commonly or they might have an undiagnosed or untreated sleep disorder."
Healthy sleep involves a natural transition period, typically 10-20 minutes, as your body shifts from wakefulness to sleep. Many sleep disorders go undetected because we misinterpret their signs as normal or even positive traits. With most doctors receiving minimal sleep training, even in top medical schools, the responsibility often falls on us to recognize warning signs. Other red flags include frequent nighttime movement, multiple wake-ups (even if you don't remember them), and consistent daytime fatigue despite seemingly adequate sleep hours.
"Those sleep stage classifications are some of the least accurate pieces of data on many of these wearables. And that even relates to in lab in a PSG, there's still agreement around mid 80s percent of the time, around 85 or so percent of the time, even if you go in lab."
While modern sleep trackers offer a wealth of data, knowing which metrics to trust is crucial. Even professional sleep labs struggle with perfect accuracy in sleep stage classification, making consumer wearables' sleep stage data even more uncertain. Instead of fixating on sleep stages, focus on more reliable metrics like wake-ups, sleep timing consistency, and physiological markers such as heart rate, heart rate variability, and respiratory rate. These measurements create a more dependable picture of your sleep patterns. The real value comes from tracking trends over time rather than obsessing over nightly scores, establishing your personal baseline to identify meaningful changes in your sleep quality.
"The suggestion for the temperature range in your bedroom for ideal sleep or ideal range for getting into those deep levels of sleep is between 60 to 67 degrees. And for a lot of people that is surprising because they think they're in a cool environment, but they might not be anywhere near some of those numbers."
Temperature control is more precise - and more important - than most people realize. This narrow range of 60-67°F reflects our evolutionary history of sleeping on naturally cool ground. Modern bedding and mattresses can trap heat well above these optimal temperatures, disrupting our sleep architecture. But optimizing one factor alone isn't enough. Light exposure affects sleep quality through photoreceptors not just in our eyes, but in our skin as well. Air quality and ventilation become especially critical as you seal a room for darkness and temperature control. The key is making incremental improvements - starting with simple fixes like blackout curtains or a portable fan, then progressively fine-tuning each environmental factor while maintaining balance between them.
Partner Snoring: More Solutions Than You Think
"There's things like intake breathing, which uses magnets on the nose to expand the nose if any of that's at play. So if anyone's listening and it's like, I've just resigned to the fact that my whatever husband snores, I snore, do know that there are so many things we can do."
Don't resign yourself to disturbed sleep due to partner snoring - the solution toolkit is deeper than most realize. While simple fixes like position changes can help, emerging treatments like myofunctional therapy are showing measurable results by strengthening the tongue and mouth muscles that influence breathing patterns. Modern technology offers innovative options, from smart pillows that adjust position when snoring is detected to daytime treatments like Excite OSA that strengthen throat muscles while you work. Even seemingly minor interventions like nasal breathing aids can significantly impact snoring intensity.
Sleep Screening & Diagnosis
Sleep Tracking
Environmental Optimization
Snoring Solutions
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