I haven't tried this myself yet...but you might be able to get what you want using xrandr
In a terminal type
xrandr --current
This is list your display interfaces. Run the next command replacing
eDP-0 for your display.
xrandr --output eDP-0 --scale 0.95x0.95
The default setting is 1x1. Anything smaller will "shrink" the objects on the screen and give you a more usable display...in theory. Play with the settings in small increments - nothing drastic. The settings likely will not stick upon logout, so you might want to take the command and add it to you start up. This can be done within the elementary system settings or elementary tweaks.