You be the judge: should my early-rising flatmate keep the noise down while I’m still in bed?

Night owl Reggie hates being woken by early bird Kevin as he gets ready for his day. You decide who has cause for alarm. Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror. I hate talking to anyone for the first two hours of my day. I think that should be respected.

Living with an early riser when you’re not one yourself can drastically decrease your quality of life. I should know, I live with Kevin. I like the fact he is an organised flatmate. He always makes enough food for two and he’s very tidy. But he gets up so early and makes a lot of noise, which really winds me up.

Every Sunday, while I’m still in bed, Kevin stomps around in the kitchen at 8am, making a smoothie before the gym. I’ll drift back to sleep, but then he comes back two hours later and makes breakfast, clattering pans and playing music loudly. I’m glad he’s so happy and I don’t want to control when he gets up, but I’d love it if he could keep the noise down.

Kevin says he physically can’t sleep in. That’s fine. But why should I suffer just because he’s an early bird? Sometimes Kevin jokes that I’m lazy, but we just have different body clocks. I get up around midday on the weekend. I don’t feel bad about it. During the week, our schedules work a bit better: Kevin is up at 6.45am, showers and makes breakfast before I rise at 9am for work.

But sometimes, when I hear Kevin stomping around in his work shoes on our wooden floors, or opening and closing the fridge, it’s jarring. Even more so than at the weekends, because sleep before work is precious. On the other hand, Kevin has been my personal alarm clock on occasions. He says I should be grateful for the noise in the week because I’ve been known to be late starting work when I’ve accidentally slept in. But generally, I’m not a morning person and I hate talking to anyone for the first two hours of my day. I think that should be respected.

Kevin says I should try getting up earlier as it would make everything easier, but why should I? Late sleepers always get a bad rep, but I’m actually just as productive as Kevin. I would really appreciate it if he stopped pressuring me to become an early riser and simply worked on being quieter. I don’t think I need to change.

Reggie is a night owl. I can hear him after midnight sometimes, but I don’t say anything. The early bird catches the worm. It’s a well-worn adage for a reason. Early risers are known to have better sleep, better moods and are even at a lower risk of certain cancers.

I like getting up early and starting my day with purpose. I don’t use the snooze button and I don’t feel groggy in the mornings: I hop out of bed. I think Reggie wishes he could be like me, but because he isn’t one of those people who gets up with the lark, he wants to control my schedule and noise output.

I don’t deliberately try to wake him up, but if I need to go to work or the gym, that involves walking along the hall in our flat and making breakfast. Sometimes, I’ll come back from the gym at midday and Reggie is still in bed. If he wants me to be quieter, he needs to have a reasonable cut-off time for making noise in the mornings, particularly at the weekend.

During the week, for example, we both agreed that noise after 11pm isn’t acceptable. But Reggie is a night owl, and when I’m in bed I sometimes hear him shuffling around, playing music or eating. I don’t often say anything, even if it goes on until midnight. But I don’t think he affords me the same privilege in the mornings.

It’s less acceptable to ask me not to make noise at midday on a Saturday. It’s the weekend! By midday, the day is half gone. The world is awake and Reggie should be too. He’s 32, not a child. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect me to make food silently, or tiptoe around because he’s still asleep.

There have also been times I’ve woken Reggie up and he’s been grateful. He slept in after a night out once, and I had to wake him up for work. If both of us were night owls, the flat would be chaos. I can try to be a bit more considerate with noise in the mornings, but it would be easier for us both if Reggie got up at a reasonable time on the weekends – around 10am – so I don’t have to worry about making breakfast after the gym.

Should Kevin pipe down in the morning?. I’m for Kevin’s seize-the-day approach. Life is short and Reggie is missing out by spending half the day in bed. Be grateful, Reggie, that you have a human alarm clock to remind you the day is ticking away. Jo, 37.

The solution for more harmonious cohabitation is obvious: Kevin lingers in bed for another hour at weekends while Reggie goes to bed a bit earlier. But Kevin should also make less noise by not preparing the loudest breakfast possible and stomping around in work shoes on a wooden floor early doors.

Frederico, 48. This is a tough one to call as it must be really difficult for a night owl and an early bird to live in the same nest easily. Earplugs for both of them would help, but if I must choose then I’m with Kevin: the world can’t tiptoe around you just because you don’t like mornings, Reggie.