Wake up sleepyhead. Or don't.
In a society where so many people are struggling to get enough shut-eye, can we really afford to judge people for sleeping in?
The Herald asked sleep researcher and clinical psychologist Bronwyn Sweeney from the Sleep Wake Research Centre at Massey University whether Kiwis are being shamed into waking up earlier than they should.
"We all have an internal biological clock. Some people are biologically wired to go to sleep later and wake later, some earlier," she said.
"Getting up earlier, it's seen as a good thing. It shows that you're focused and you're hard working ... sleeping in or getting up later can be seen as lazy, not as focused, not as motivated or driven."
But work schedules and social expectations mean some people are ignoring their natural patterns, despite the fact sleep is important for long-term health.
"Often people like to pose broad judgments on others, but [they're] not really understanding that person's unique needs," Sweeney said.
"I feel like there's not a one size fits all when it comes to sleep."
People who didn't have a strong sense of self could find these societal messages feeding into a sense of shame or guilt, she said.
Tauranga woman Mariko Withrington regularly feels shamed by others for sleeping late.
"My dad is an early riser and all of his three daughters are not," she said.
"He will, like, go to bed at 9.30 or something. We will all stay up talking, reading."
They would often wake to him banging on their doors, telling them they were wasting the day.
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