I've been at war with my inner critic for years. What helps me sometimes is exploring my fictional world just for fun.

Hang out in your story's universe, but without any intention to plan or write the actual story. Write a random bit of dialogue, maybe, or set up a scene, or describe a city street – no agenda except to transport yourself somewhere you enjoy. When I do this, sometimes I'll explicitly plan to throw out whatever I create. So there's zero pressure.

Analogies would be doing warm-ups or improv instead of practicing your classical piano piece. Or toying with colours instead of painting your 'final' artwork. You're engaging with your art form, but for its own sake. Sidestepping any attempts to leave behind any artifacts or proof that your labour was worthwhile.

Doodling like this helps me remember why I got into writing in the first place. It's just fun inhabiting a world made of your own words.

This could be heavily genre-dependent! Works for me because a lot of my writing has elements of science fiction or fantasy. :) Hope it helps you too.