You finish a piece, then look at work made by someone with years of practice, better equipment and a carefully selected portfolio. The comparison supplies very little information about your next step, but it can quickly change how you feel about the hour you just spent.
Look at an earlier attempt of your own instead. Choose something reasonably comparable in scale or method. Notice one concrete difference: a clearer structure, a more deliberate choice or a part of the process that required less guessing.
Not every change will be an improvement. You may prefer something spontaneous in the older work or recognize a technique you would like to revisit. The comparison can be curious rather than a search for proof that each new piece is superior.
Keep a modest record if it helps. A few dated photographs or saved drafts can show changes that are difficult to remember accurately. Respect privacy and storage needs, and avoid turning documentation into more work than the activity itself.
Other people's work can still teach and inspire. Try looking for a specific choice you want to understand rather than using the whole finished piece as a verdict on your ability. Appropriate classes, demonstrations or feedback can help you learn the process behind an effect you admire.
If comparison repeatedly leaves you unwilling to make anything, change the timing or amount of exposure. You might create first and browse later, or follow a smaller selection of sources that explain process rather than only display results.
Choose pieces that allow a fair comparison. A quick exercise and a carefully finished project made with different materials may reveal less than two attempts at a similar task. Look for specific changes: clearer spacing, a more deliberate choice, fewer problems with a technique. You may also notice that the earlier piece had a freedom you would like to recover. Progress does not always mean that every newer decision is better.
Keep the comparison brief enough that it returns you to making. The archive can offer useful evidence without becoming a place to repeatedly evaluate your worth. Write down one thing that improved and one question you want to explore next. Then let the next session be about that question, rather than about proving that the entire history of your work forms a steady upward line.
The aim is not to isolate yourself from excellent work. It is to use comparison in a way that produces information instead of paralysis. Your earlier attempts offer a record of decisions made under circumstances you actually know, and that makes them a particularly useful place to look when you want to understand what is changing.
A little more room to be yourself.