While it's easy to see how night owls and morning larks benefited humanity back when we were cave men and women (having people on different shifts to protect against predators, for instance), it's not so great in the modern world.
Night owls are most likely to have inherited their genes from their parents. So why is that a bad thing?
Unless you are freelance, staying up late means that you're more likely to be getting less sleep than others because normal working hours and routines don't cater to night owls - the world is built for early risers.
Sleep deprivation can also lead to numerous health problems such as depression, anxiety and stress.
But, just because you go to bed late, it doesn't mean that you can't still get a healthy amount of sleep.
In fact there are a number of ways which can help you to clock up between seven and eight hours each night, these include:
:: Sticking to a regular schedule.
:: Avoiding caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.
:: Avoiding overeating, especially late at night.
:: Shutting down TVs and computers one hour before sleeping.
:: Keeping your bedroom cool and dark.
Finally, if you don't manage to sleep enough at night then take naps when you can (as if we ever needed an excuse)!
One positive to take away from all of this, despite sleep deprivation being bad for you, is that there are studies which found that night owls are smarter and perform better on cognitive tasks than their early rising counterparts.
Happy snoozing!