How to Improve Sleep Score: Why I Trust Mollie Eastman

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Have you ever done everything “right” and still seen your sleep score stay the same? If you’re trying to figure out how to improve sleep score numbers that just won’t move, I’ve been there too. For me, the answer wasn’t another gadget. It was finding the right guide.

I didn’t have real sleep problems until I started traveling for work. Then one year I spent almost 200 nights on the road. Hotel rooms, time zones, early flights. I was desperate to sleep better, especially away from home.

So I did what any sleep-obsessed guy would do. I bought an Oura Ring back when they were big and, let’s be honest, kind of ugly. I tracked everything. I read everything. I tried just about everything. My daughter once joked that I’d do a headstand in a bucket of ice water if I thought it would help me sleep. She wasn’t wrong.

And it worked for a while. I made real progress. Then I hit a wall.

Why This Matters

A plateau is frustrating. You’ve already made the easy changes. You’re doing the routines. Your ring keeps telling you the same thing every morning, and you have no idea what’s actually holding you back.

That’s exactly where I was when I met Mollie Eastman.

Here’s the one idea I want you to take away: the fastest way to improve your sleep isn’t the next product. It’s finding someone who will help you get to the root of the problem. For me, that person is Mollie.

The Book That Changed Everything

Mollie (you may know her by her former name, Mollie McGlocklin) is the founder of Sleep Is A Skill. When I met her, her podcast was just getting started.

I was skinny. I didn’t fit anyone’s idea of someone with sleep apnea. But Mollie gently suggested I read a book: Sleep, Interrupted by Dr. Steven Y. Park, an ear, nose, and throat doctor. The main point of the book is that sleep-breathing problems often get missed, especially in people who don’t look like the “typical” patient.

Looking back, I know that was her kind way of saying, I think you might have this.

She was right. I had sleep apnea. Getting a CPAP was a game changer. Later, I even got some one-on-one coaching from Dr. Park himself, and he helped me optimize my CPAP settings. That one book recommendation led to real, expert help.

I truly believe God used Mollie to help me find out I had sleep apnea. Thank you, Mollie.

That was the start of a friendship that goes back many years now. Her podcast has grown into one of the top podcasts on sleep, and yet she has never once “big-timed” me. I so appreciate that.

Why I Trust Mollie Eastman

Here’s why she’s the first person I turn to when I want to sleep better.

1. Her Coaching Actually Works

Her recommendations and one-on-one coaching have made a huge difference in my sleep. I’m convinced she’ll turn over every rock to get to the root of a sleep problem.

And if you track your sleep, this part is huge: Mollie’s coaching uses your actual Oura data. Instead of generic advice, she looks at your numbers and helps you figure out what they’re telling you.

2. She’s Lived It — Even on the Road

Mollie didn’t get into sleep because it looked like a good business. Her own insomnia started while she was traveling internationally. On her site, she describes hitting bottom with a panic attack during a tour of Rome’s Colosseum after days without sleep.

As someone who spent almost 200 nights in hotel beds in one year, I felt that.

3. She Looks for Root Causes — and Knows When to Send You to a Doctor

When Mollie was struggling, she was offered sleeping pills without anyone looking for the cause. So she dug in herself: doctors, sleep clinics, CBT-I (a proven, talk-based therapy for insomnia), and a lot of research.

That shows up in how she helps people. She didn’t try to coach me past a medical problem. She pointed me toward the answer. Her show regularly features board-certified sleep physicians and airway specialists, and she talks about sleep apnea often.

4. She’s Honest About Her Own Struggles

Mollie is candid about her own sleep struggles, even the occasional recent ones. She doesn’t pretend to be perfect.

She’s even willing to say when she got something wrong. In a newsletter called “What I Got Wrong About Sleep,” she admits that some sleep education, including her own, can add pressure for people who already can’t sleep. Then she changed how she talks about it. That kind of humility is rare.

5. She’s Talked With the Top Minds in Sleep

Mollie has interviewed the top minds in the world on sleep. The Sleep Is A Skill Podcast has been running since 2020, has more than 275 episodes, and carries a 4.9-star rating on Apple Podcasts.

Whenever I bring up a sleep idea or product, 99 times out of 100 she’s already heard of it, probably tried it, and has probably interviewed the founder of the company.

6. It’s a Calling, Not Just a Business

You can tell when someone is doing work they were made for. Mollie’s passion and dedication to helping people sleep are obvious in everything she does.

7. She’s Consistent

Her Sleep Obsessions newsletter comes out every Monday, and it has for years. She does not miss. I can’t say that about much of anything in my own life!

8. Her Product Recommendations Are Top-Notch

Yes, I know product recommendations are part of how she earns a living. So what? Before I buy anything sleep-related, I check her website to see if she recommends it. If she doesn’t, I don’t bother.

One honest note about sleep products: your mileage may vary. Some things will work for you and some won’t. But you won’t know until you try them.

How to Improve Sleep Score: What Mollie Taught Me

If you’re wondering how to improve my sleep score (I’ve typed that exact question into Google more than once), here are the biggest lessons I’ve learned from Mollie’s work:

1. Rule out the big stuff first. If you snore, gasp, or wake up tired no matter what you do, talk to your doctor about sleep apnea. No habit will out-work an airway problem. (I wrote more about this in my sleep divorce post.)
2. Get your light right. Mollie calls light the most important lever. Get outside light soon after you wake up, and try to catch the sunset. Keep evenings dim.
3. Keep your room cool and dark. Your body temperature needs to drop for deep sleep.
4. Watch the timing of meals, movement, and caffeine. Her approach is all about matching your habits to your body’s natural rhythms, including finishing dinner a few hours before bed.
5. Be consistent. Going to bed and waking up at the same times, even on weekends, helps everything else work.
6. Use your data as a guide, not a grade. Your ring is a tool. Look for patterns over weeks, not one bad night.
7. Get help reading your data. This is where coaching made the biggest difference for me. Someone who knows what to look for can spot things you’ll miss.

Pro tip: Start with her free sleep assessment at Sleep Is A Skill. She says she reads every one personally.

The Turn: The Score Isn’t the Goal

Here’s what surprised me most. The more I learned from Mollie, the less I obsessed over my score. The score improved because I stopped treating it like a test I had to pass.

As Mollie puts it, “The skill is not controlling sleep. The skill is building a relationship with it.”

I’m not a doctor, and this isn’t medical advice. If you think you might have sleep apnea or another sleep disorder, please talk to your doctor.

Bottom Line

There is no one I trust more to help me sleep better than Mollie Eastman. She helped me find the problem that no amount of hacks could fix, and she’s been a trusted guide and friend ever since.

So back to that stuck sleep score. If you’re doing everything right and still not getting better, maybe it’s not time for another gadget. Maybe it’s time for the right guide.

If you want to sleep better, check out everything Mollie offers at Sleep Is A Skill. She has a podcast, a Monday newsletter, a free assessment, and coaching.

Pro tip: If better sleep is your thing, subscribe here and choose Wellness or any categories you want. I’ll skip the rest.

Who’s the one person you trust most for health advice? I’d love to hear who it is and why.

You Might Also Like

• 7 Reasons for a Sleep Divorce (And How We Kept the Romance)
• Sleep Tech I Use Every Day: Better Sleep Solutions I Actually Use
• 5 Things in My Bedside Sleep Recovery Kit for Falling Back Asleep Fast

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