Decoding nighttime sleeping patterns
年轻人，你为啥睡得这么晚？
When we wake up feeling sleepy and with dark circles under eyes, many of us often think: "I'm going to bed earlier tomorrow!" But however determined we are, chances are that we don't stick to our promise.
当我们顶着黑眼圈迷迷糊糊地醒来时，不少人都会想：“我明天一定要早睡！”但不论下了多大的决心，我们似乎都不大可能会做到。
This behavior is called "bedtime procrastination", and results from lack of self-control and our body clock, reported HuffPost.
据《赫芬顿邮报》报道，这种行为被称为“睡前拖延症”，源于缺乏自制力和生物钟紊乱。

According to a study carried out by a group of health psychologists at Utrecht University in the Netherlands in 2014, bedtime procrastination is a common problem. In their study, 53 percent of the 2,400 participants said they didn't follow their sleep schedule, delaying it at least twice a week.
来自荷兰乌得勒支大学的一群健康心理学家在2014年的一项研究表明，睡前拖延症这一问题相当普遍。在他们的研究中，参与调查的2400人中53%的受访者表示，他们没有按时睡觉，每周至少会拖延两次。
It's found that they delayed bedtime not because they liked to stay up late, but they couldn't stop doing other trivial things, which were keeping them up in the first place.
研究发现，这些人推迟睡觉并不是因为喜欢熬夜，而是总忍不住做一些琐事，这成了他们不睡觉的首要原因。
"People who generally have trouble resisting temptations and adhering to their intentions are also more likely to delay going to bed," Floor Kroese, a psychologist at Utrecht University, further explained to HuffPost.
“通常而言，无法抵制诱惑和坚持己见的人更有可能拖延上床睡觉的时间，”乌得勒支大学心理学家弗劳·克罗塞向《赫芬顿邮报》进一步解释称。
Yet, according to scientists, lack of self-control is not the only thing to blame. Our body clock also plays an important role when it comes to bedtime.
但科学家们认为，缺乏自制力并非是睡前拖延的唯一原因。我们的生物钟在就寝时间上也发挥着重要作用。
In order to check the influence of the body clock on sleep, psychologists at Ulm University in Germany studied the sleep patterns of 108 people in February. It was found that those who get up late are more likely to postpone their bedtime than those who wake early every morning.
为了研究生物钟对睡眠的影响，德国乌尔姆大学的心理学家在2月研究了108人的睡眠模式。研究发现，和早起的人相比，晚起的人更有可能推迟自己的就寝时间。
And more surprisingly, night owls would go to bed late at the very beginning of the weekday, even though they had to get up early for work and school. It's their special body clock that plays a part in delaying their bedtime, reported Popular Science.
更令人惊讶的是，就算要早起上班上学，夜猫子在工作日刚开始时便会熬夜晚睡。《大众科学》杂志认为，夜猫子独有的生物钟导致他们拖延自己的睡觉时间。
"The intention to go to bed earlier is not enough," Jana Kuhnel, a psychologist at Ulm University, concluded in Popular Science. "Biological processes need to support this intention."
“有要早睡的意愿是远远不够的，”乌尔姆大学的心理学家亚娜·屈内尔在《大众科学》杂志上总结道。“我们的生物进程也要支持这一想法。”
People always think that bedtime procrastination isn't a big problem, but as Kroese told Popular Science, "the choices we make that affect our sleep could turn out to be pretty important for our health."
人们总觉得睡前拖延症并不是一件大事，但克罗塞却在接受《大众科学》采访时表示，“我们影响睡眠的选择对健康而言也至关重要。”