Your cat is not after the keyboard — she is after you
A cat who parks herself on your chair, your lap or your warm laptop is usually claiming three things at once: your scent, your body heat and the place where your attention is focused. The chair is warm from you, the keyboard is where your hands and eyes are, and from her point of view that makes both of them the best seats in the house. Understanding that changes the strategy. You will not win by making your workspace forbidden; you win by making an equally attractive spot that is also, crucially, right next to you.
Set up the decoy seat properly
Put a bed, a folded blanket or a shallow box on the desk beside your screen, or on a chair pulled up level with yours. Boxes work astonishingly well because cats like edges and enclosure, and a box positioned with a view of you will outcompete a keyboard surprisingly often. Every time she steps onto the keys, lift her calmly onto her own spot without fuss or scolding, and stroke her there so the new place builds the right association. Warmth from a sun patch or a self-warming pad makes the decoy stronger still, because heat is half of what your laptop was offering.
Spend her energy before she spends it on you
A cat who has hunted is a cat who sleeps. Run a proper play session with a wand toy before your first meeting, letting her chase, catch and finish with a small meal, which follows her natural hunt, catch, eat, groom, sleep rhythm. Short play breaks between calls keep her topped up through the day far better than one long session in the morning. If demands spike at the same time daily, that is a pattern you can get ahead of by playing just before it rather than reacting inside it.
Protect calls and deep work without a battle
For an important call, set her up in advance: fresh play session, her desk bed in place, and a puzzle feeder or a few treats hidden around her permitted territory to occupy the first minutes while you settle. Close the door only when you truly must, accepting she may object loudly the first few times, and keep meetings as the exception rather than the rule so your working arrangement stays friendly. Typing around a sleeping cat on a desk bed is, for most home workers, a perfectly workable long-term peace treaty.
When desk invasion is really a change in behaviour
If a cat who previously ignored your desk suddenly becomes clingy, follows you constantly, vocalises much more or stops settling anywhere, note the change rather than just managing it. Increased clinginess can accompany discomfort, illness or stress from a change in the household, and a pattern that persists is worth raising with your vet, especially in an older cat whose habits shift noticeably over a short period.
Making the peace last all week
The routine only holds if it happens on your busiest days too, and that is where sharing helps. KinsLe's Care Teams let the other people in your home pick up a play break or the midday puzzle-feeder refill as an assigned duty for your cat, marked complete with a timestamp, so her settled afternoons do not depend entirely on your calendar behaving.