I’ve never been a morning person.

In fact, I’d actually go one step further. For a long time, I was unaware that there were hours in the morning that preceded 7am.

With my 29th birthday just over a month away, I very much doubt that I’m about to start throwing back the covers and cartwheeling out of bed anytime soon.

“Once you get into a routine, you’ll be fine,” I’ve been told before by all the weekday warriors out there.

But I never, ever have – and to be honest, I’ve simply stopped trying.

It’s not that I hate waking up. It’s just that I really, really, really love sleeping. And no amount of suspiciously, radioactive-looking kale smoothies or lethally strong coffee is about to change that.

The thing is, I don’t even mind. In fact, I’m putting forward the case for NOT being a morning person – because if you can bounce around in LYCRA before I’ve even opened my eyeballs, I can certainly push the agenda for being an evening kind of gal.

First thing’s first: my weekends are for sleeping. I actively enjoy the exquisite pleasure of waking up lazily, dozing in and out of sleep before grabbing a cup of tea and slowly starting my day. If I have things to do then I will adjust my “schedule,” but I try to refrain from setting alarm clocks on a Saturday or Sunday.

And let’s stop talking about my limitations. Before you ask, “Not a morning person, sleeping beauty?” as I stumble over my own feet on my way to the bathroom, just remember: that makes me an evening person. And not just by default.

I love my evenings. I rarely say no to meeting a friend for a drink or movie date. Since I don’t need to wake at the crack of dawn, I can stay out a little later if a friend needs to chat, if the game goes into overtime, or if we really fancy just “one” more beer before home time.

Sometimes other factors might drive me indoors sooner – namely weather or money – but I’m certainly not clock-watching when I do make time for hobbies or meet-ups.

When you start to yawn and complain that it’s “way past my bedtime” at around 9pm, that’s when I really start to come into my own.

We may have to be at our desks working again in 12 hours, but I still have one or two episodes of Gilmore Girls to watch, a trip down that ol’ rabbit hole – the internet – and, hey, maybe even a chapter of my book before I pass out in bed at 1am.

You see, I can be productive when everyone else is in bed. And I’ll let you in on a little secret: I can still do all the things that you like to do. I just do them after Game of Thrones instead of doing them before sunrise. I can write an article at the speed of lighting at 2am if the moment takes me.

How? Well there’s absolutely no one around to disturb me. No emails, no calls, no distractions in those pre-dawn hours.

If you don’t want to be a night owl, that’s fine. That just means less hooting when I’m trying to get stuff done.

Plus, you may say you love your morning coffee ritual; you may say that you need caffeine. But do you? Do you really? Nobody forced you to get out of bed three hours before you had to be anywhere.

I, on the other hand, am struggling as it is to keep my eyelids from sliding back south. Sure, it’s not good for me, but I do save time, energy and money on breakfast since I’m only able to digest food after about 11:30am.

Look, I get it. If you’re into early rising, all power to you. I’m all for everyone doing what makes them happy. You do you.

What I do dislike, however, is the assumption that we sleepyheads – or evening people, as I prefer – are thus because of some sort of failure or inability to evolve.

For some of us, every single evening will end when we look at the clock for the third time that evening and say, “Sh*t, now I really have to go to bed.” And most mornings will begin once we have slept for each and every glorious minute that we possibly could, rolled out of bed, hotfooted it in the shower, and caught our train, sweaty, and with only seconds to spare.

That doesn’t mean we’re a hot mess. Believe me, I’d be a lot hotter and messier if I set my alarm at 6:30 every morning.

Evening people, I stand with you. Here’s to letting the next Netflix episode start in 15 seconds and always hitting the snooze button.