I expect Linux terminals can do this: iTerm on mac has a "Hotkey Window" mode, which drops down a terminal when I press Option-Space. In (one of the panes of) t

I expect Linux terminals can do this: iTerm on mac has a "Hotkey Window" mode, which drops down a terminal when I press Option-Space. In (one of the panes of) this I keep a text-mode emacs open for time logging. I generally use it only for that, so it's always open at the right place. org-capture can also work well to quickly save notes. For more substantial notes work I typically switch to the appropriate virtual screen, switch to the GUI-mode emacs there, and if needed use a hotkey to jump to the appropriate org file.