I use these

They are sold by Tripar on Amazon and will hold a phone or ipad or ither tablet with a case. I bought lots of these to display my Christmas plates in a secretary, and one day randomly tried an extra for my ipad and it worked perfectly. They are minimalist, extruded metal in a v. good satin brass color (not brass though, they’re heavier). These come in ”gold” or silver, and I have seen them from ither sellers in black. Inexpensive, uncomplicated and effective.

while sitting on a sofa?

That IS an actual picture of me.

I use one of these on my lap sometimes. Very high tech.

Yes, they are pretty stable on the cushion next to you. i have also been known to balance one on my chest or lap while in bed. (Dogs knock them over though, if yours are couch surfers.)

I am forbidden by my physio from using laptop on couch but if I still were, I’d get a simple raise/lower table from IKEA

https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/bjoerkasen-laptop-stand-turquoise-40476473/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping_feed&utm_content=free_google_shopping_clicks_Workspaces&gclid=CjwKCAiAvriMBhAuEiwA8Cs5lWRxXuKy0mi7TKcI7ETG2JsRH_Br3Qi0CfsVxRf_KO5qcNzBRRahUhoCSZoQAvD_BwE

In bed, I use the IKEA bamboo tray table. Might work on a couch. At work, I use what looks like a small hospital bed table. It really doesn't look nice as is, but it is small and, I suppose you could paint or paper the tabletop part.

ETA: Just looked at robo's suggestion. LOve that. It would only be better if it was on wheels.

Also wanted to add how important this is. When we first went to remote learning, my co-worker sat on the floor or in a chair to do all of her work. We often worked from early morning until bedtime. I kept telling her to set up a better place to work, but she was very resentful of having to do it at all in her home and refused to adjust anything in her house. Fast forward and she developed frozen shoulder. Guess who had to listen to her complain for at least the next 12 months?

The thought of Mtn using furniture from Ikea made me chuckle….but then I looked and gee, that laptop stand is pretty cute!

I used to use my knees--- but that requires you to put your feet on the sofa. I had to stop because with a blanket, it was causing my laptop to overheat. I have a high coffee table and that's what I use...for 12+ hr a day. I really need to use my office.

It was actually my hips that caused me the most problems - sitting crisscross applesauce for hours a day in middle age is apparently not recommended.

I have a folding table somewhat similar to the Ikea version although there is more surface area. Folded, it can fit under the skirted sofa or on the back wall of a closet. I believe it is called a Table Mate.

I bought something like this for my kids when they were in high school. They insisted on doing all their assignments and studying sitting in their beds. I bought it from Staples. Because it's an actual hard surface table top it will prevent overheating.

https://www.staples.ca/products/2955183-en-lapgear-designer-lap-desk-medallion

The other thing to do of course is to make sure you're not jutting your chin out as so many of us do when on our laptops and when we're driving.

I use a triangular pillow with my iPad for reading. It also works surprisingly well with my laptop, just in a different position. I'll try to post a picture. It is NOT cute, but does the job...maybe they make fetching ones too.

ETA, it is called Flippy and is available on the big A.

Robo-- same! I have had bursitus since i was a pre-teen. I scoot my feet up under my knees (not quite to my butt)-- so my knees (which are not delicate and pointy) make a little platform. This doesn't work with a mouse or when actually writing though-- it is solely for surfing, reading and quick email responses.

"A friend" told me that if you schlump really low in the chair, your neck doesn't have to tilt as much. Not recommended. :)

DH bought an adjustable laptop desk for me to use in the family room. It worked great until Covid hit and I began spending more time on the computer. I've been a volunteer indexer for the National Archives and often found myself sitting in the same position in the wing chair for hours. My neck and spine are rather wonky anyway so I was careful to sit up straight and not bend my neck too much.

But when I started to feel pain in my upper arms and shoulders I realized that I had been extending my arms to type and with the smaller keyboard on a laptop my arms were kept too close to my sides.

This is similar to the laptop table DH bought.

https://www.levenger.com/home-office-22549/sit-to-stand-desks-22998/ergonomic-adjustable-reading-table-17084.aspx?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=GoogleFeed&utm_content=All&utm_campaign=GoogleFeed&gclid=CjwKCAiAvriMBhAuEiwA8Cs5lRBxDPiXOvr4KAKK9PILO154_X08UYuFT8aBwyky1r67Vu6YSsi-1xoCVbgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I am now looking for a better solution. I'd like a 2 tier table so that my laptop can be at the optimum viewing level and then a lower level or slide out tray for a wireless full size keyboard and mouse.

This is rather like the Flippy, there are a number of other brands that also come in different colors. I haven't tried it myself, but thought it might be good for books too and make a nice gift.

My neck gets out of whack easily, so I try to make a conscious effort to sit up straight and raise handheld devices so my neck isn't bent. I'll sit at a table or desk and prop my elbows on the tabletop to hold my phone up in front of my face too.

When reading on my tablet, I'm usually laying down.

Mostly, I'm on my desktop so I'm sitting up straight and not straining my neck.

From the title of the thread I thought it might be about neck wrinkles that can get ingrained from that posture. If you've never seen what you look like while bent over a screen and what it does to you neck and chin, don't say I didn't warn you,

There are laptop pillows, I believe.

Seattle, when I quit working, I vowed that I would not spend too much time online or in front of the tv. Well, tv is no problem, but I love decor blogs and instagram and you know, you're just going to get online for a few minutes, then where did the time go? It helps me to only use our desktop and try to limit myself to a little while in the morning and then again in the evening. I had some issues in my right shoulder and I will admit that by only sitting at my desk on the computer, that is no longer an issue. HOWEVER, if I am out somewhere waiting, bored, with nothing to do (such as today, first waiting for my booster shot and then waiting 10 minutes afterwards), I will pull out my phone. Not so good on the neck, I am sure.

I do have a tablet and I will occasionally read on it. I find the most comfortable for me is in bed, the head of bed up and a pillow behind my neck.

I sit on my couch near the arm and I have a Lshape table similar to the one Maire showed only its dark wood. I pull it up to my waist and,its with a pillow behind my head, I sit straight up with my head in line with my neck.

When i am sitting on couch using my ipad i pile up 2 or 3 cushions on my lap. i find this helps alot.

I use this funky little gadget that holds my ipad at eye level. It attaches to a side table I have next to my sofa. Not very fetching. lol

Yeah. From an evolutionary standpoint this is not a good look. I think thumbs will be ginormous by then too.

https://tollfreeforwarding.com/blog/from-text-claw-to-tech-neck-how-technology-affects-our-bodies/

Another recommendation for the Tablet Sofa My reading chair is a recliner and I find if I lean back and prop the tablet on a pillow it works pretty well also and my neck stays stationary

These are the 2 geekiest guys on the planet, but my physical therapist recommended them. Here is their take on preventing and treating Tech Neck.

I only use my laptop at my desk, or formal dining table. For some reason, I've never been into using it while sitting or lounging around on couch. I do take my laptop into my laundry room and look and at Spotify (Joe Rogan, etc) or some Youtube videos. I DO look at my phone sometimes while lounging though, which is bad.

Saw this and thought of this thread.

Stretches for combatting too much screen time:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/11/12/well/move/back-stretches.html

I am supposed to be able to share a bunch of articles every month sans paywall, if anyone has trouble seeing this let me know and I will try to fix it.

I also learned that easy push ups help a lot! I do them against a countertop, and concentrate on squeezing the shoulder blades together.

"tech neck" is partly about the strain you put on your arms, which runs up into your upper back and neck. that's why the pushups help.

Queen of the Tech Neck's here. I've been bedridden the past week because of my neck and let me tell you, it got bad. I'm pretty sure it's TN because I sprained my neck, according to an MRI, about eleven years ago, not long after I got my first iPad. I used it all the time, neck down of course, no matter where I sat/laid. My neck has been weak ever since.

This has been the most painful week, but it's getting better. If you're on the PC, raise the monitor so you don't have to look down.

Using the iPad, either sitting up on my side in bed or sitting on the sofa, I put an iPad pillow for the slant on top of a bed pillow, with a towel on top of the iPad pillow because those pillows are just too rigid for me when I'm playing a game, & the towel keeps it from slipping. Then set the iPad on top.

I use an iPad pillow that gives a bit, not the one pictured above. Although I did order one of those for each of the grands for Christmas. IPad pillows for me are too upright for me, if that makes sense.

WATCH OUT FOR YOUR COLLARBONE! Because I lean on my left elbow when using the iPad, which is the same side my neck hurts and is swollen, the pain has now traveled down to the collarbone, which is part of Tech Neck.

Watch how you position your head when you sleep. You want your neck to be in neutral. I'm really bad at my head pointing up when I sleep.

I was doing neck exercises and I actually made my neck worse with one of the easy ones.

Good luck. It sure is a pain in the neck! ;)

Forgot, a hard as heck bed pillow is great to lean against a stack of pillows in bed when you want to use your phone or iPad. I have about 7 pillows on my bed. lol

That skeleton picture in the original post looks like a tablet, not a laptop.

So perhaps get a real laptop instead of using a tablet.

I use a laptop when I watch TV (like now while I am posting this), although I have an ipad mini.

That skeleton picture in the original post looks like a tablet, not a laptop.

So perhaps get a real laptop instead of using a tablet.

Uhh, yeah, that is not an actual photo.

"I use my laptop mostly while sitting" is the first line of my post. Macbook Pro 15".

Not the prettiest, but I use this by the sofa. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QMNTMXA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The original post says "This is me" and shows a picture of a skeleton holding up a tablet.

Then goes on to say "Do you use anything to prop up your laptop while using it on a sofa or in bed?"

A laptop stands up by itself so why would there be a need to prop it up? Did you mean to ask about propping up a tablet?

Furthermore, the pictures posted for solutions are for tablets, not for laptops.

It seems that this topic is conflating laptops and tablets.

I only use my laptop on a regular desk (actually a vanity in my bedroom that I use as a desk) and never on a sofa.

I only use my tablet on my elliptical machine, for watching music videos while I exercise.

If I am on a sofa, I am watching TV and my phone is usually turned off. I also pretty much never eat while on a sofa, as I have a dining room for that. I might eat popcorn on a sofa while watching a movie, but that is pretty rare.

My mother used to work crossword puzzles while watching TV, but I do not do this either. I am also very quick to mute all commercials on TV, and my mother was never able to do this - or else she did not want to or did not care.

Lucy,

"I use my laptop mostly while sitting" is the first line of my post.

The original post says "This is me" and shows a picture of a skeleton holding up a tablet.

It says :This is me (not actual photo). I am also not blue/red, or, (i wish) skeletal, LOL

A laptop stands up by itself so why would there be a need to prop it up?

To avoid neck strain, a screen should be at eye level. A laptop in one's lap is not at eye level, so that is why people use things to prop up laptops.

I have been putting mine on a pillow, and i think that helps. I would have to get a special table for each room, but all my chairs and sofas have pillows. I think it is the solution I am most likely to use. I won't use something ugly; even if I should I know I won't.

My tablet, an iPad Pro, is in a case with a keyboard. So, while it is a tablet, it functions more like a laptap. Below is pretty much what mine looks like. I need to start using a pillow, too. I’m having more trouble with ”tech knees” (the weight of it resting on my knee) than I am with tech neck.

Mtn, for my laptop, I have it elevated so that the screen is eye-level for me. I have the laptop itself sitting on a shoe box on my desk....so yeah, probably not the "pretty" solution you are looking for. LOL. However the premise is sound ergonomically. Just get a separate keyboard and mouse and you can then treat the laptop like a tiny stand alone monitor. :)

However I also use an ipad (mostly at night, when I'm laying around and watching TV or surfing the web), and that is causing neck pain for me because I'm always contorted, or slumped, and I'm definitely getting neck pain from it. Your pretty photo above is me at night. Sigh. I know it's causing me problems and yet I keep doing it...

Just get a separate keyboard and mouse and you can then treat the laptop like a tiny stand alone monitor. :)

I have read this advice, but i use my laptop from room to room and house to house. The whole point of a laptop is portability, but that runs counter to the ergonomics.

Really, SueB has the best idea. Grab a pillow. Yes I am waiting for someone to say it will overheat. Good reason to just get off it from time to time.