Sleeping late isn’t a sign of laziness. Stop the circadian-rhythm shaming

A person’s daily sleep-wake schedule, called a chronotype, is genetic. And bias against night owls is ‘purely cultural’. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

It’s January, the month of new year’s resolutions and other doomed efforts at self-improvement. And what better way to make more of one’s life than rising earlier to seize the day?

At least that’s what the voice in my head says as I hit the snooze alarm for the 10th time at 9.30am. Then it’s time to get up, racked with guilt at my laziness, as if sleeping in were some kind of ethical lapse.