Staring at a blank screen for my research proposal feels impossible when I'm constantly second-guessing every Chicago style footnote?

It is completely normal to feel paralyzed by formatting when you are getting back into the swing of things, but the best way to move forward is to give yourself permission to write a messy first draft without worrying about a single footnote. Think of your research proposal like building a house; right now, you are trying to paint the walls and install the crown molding before you have even laid the foundation or put up the frame. If you obsess over where the commas go in a Chicago style citation while you are still trying to figure out your core argument, you are essentially asking your brain to do two completely different tasks at once, which is a recipe for burnout. For your next session, try using placeholders like brackets or simple notes to mark where a citation needs to go, and then keep typing until your ideas are fully on the page. You can even write [FIX LATER] in bold right in your text to remind yourself that the technical cleanup is a separate job for a later day. Once your argument is solid and the flow of your ideas feels right, going back to polish the footnotes will feel like a manageable checklist rather than a roadblock. You have a wealth of experience to bring to this project, so focus on getting your voice onto the screen first and trust that you can handle the technical details once the heavy lifting of the writing is done.