Tell me, do you sparkle in the morning?  In other words, are you a morning person, otherwise known as a Lark?

Or are you like me, an Owl, or ‘afternoon/night person? If so, please join me in the campaign for equality with those oh-so-smug morning people, who roll their eyes when you ask not to be disturbed before 9am. Don’t you just hate it, when friends say, with an air of virtue: ‘I’ve been up since 5.30am, it’s the only way to get things done’. Well, I vehemently disagree. I’m usually up till midnight, finishing a chapter (whether one I’m writing, or one I’m reading) while they’re snoring their heads off. For years, I’ve suffered discrimination from morning people. Just what is that worm they’re so eager to catch?

Like so many other Owls (including, may I say, such luminaries as James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, and Gustave Flaubert) my brain slips into gear by midday, and I’m at my best when most ‘normal’ (i.e. morning) souls are sensibly turning in for their eight hours. Useless to tell them I’d rather meet for a catchup in the afternoon rather than at sparrow’s fart. Anyway, our world being geared for the early risers, all respectable cafes in my neck of the woods are well and truly closed after 3pm.

‘I’m not a morning person’, posts Australian writer Liane Moriarty (Big Little Lies, Truly Madly Deeply).’ I’d be fine if a maid glided in with my breakfast on a tray, drew back the curtainand asked if there was anything else madam required. Then I could gently ease myself into each new day, rather than having it slammed against my forehead with all its bright, shiny light.’ (lianemoriarty.com.au) At last a fellow not-morning person! And one whose nocturnal body clock has done nothing to stop the flow of her highly successful novels. As Liane suggests, we night owls may have noble blood, just like the Princess and who slept so lightly that she could feel a pea underneath a mountain of matresses. Now we noble night owls can thumb our noses at those holier- than-thou  early birders.

Other famous night-people include Barack Obama, Fidel Castro, Winston Churchill and Bob Dylan.

Although morning types may achieve more socially and academically, night owls tend to perform better on measures of memory, processing speed and cognitive ability, even when they have to perform those tasks in the morning. Night-time people are also more open to new experiences and seek them out more. They may be more creative. And contrary to the maxim (‘healthy, wealthy and wise’), one study showed that night owls are as healthy and wise as morning types – and a little bit wealthier!