If I sit on the couch, it doesn't take long before one of our three cats decides my lap is a much nicer place to hang out than wherever they were before.

If I pre-empt them by keeping my laptop on my lap, they'll try to squeeze in between my keyboard and me anyway. I could ignore them and keep typing, but it's kinda nice when the cats decide to spend time with me (even if I suspect they're just using me as a soft radiator).

Since this occurs fairly regularly, I've given it some thought. Here's what I've come up with:

My effective typing speed when I'm trying to explore a thought is around 16 words per minute, so I don't lose much by typing on my phone instead of my laptop. It would help to keep a USB charger within easy reach, though. Sometimes I switch my tablet PC to tablet mode and draw on the side, or hand-write things.

One of our cats can be tempted off a lap when someone else gets up off the couch and leaves a warm spot. This is good to know, because she's the one who occasionally digs in with her claws if you try to prematurely shoo her off your lap. We've also discovered that she can be persuaded to leave your lap if you angle yourself out very slowly, but she'll complain a lot along the way.

I've tried just cuddling the cats until they decide they've had enough. Sometimes they'll get a little pointy while still insisting on staying in your lap. Also, one of our cats doesn't actually have an upper limit to cuddling and will happily fall asleep on your lap, so…