Lot of good responses here: foremost - proficiency...practice as much as possible...Also, I liked the post about letting people hear your stuff...I have stuff I did 15 years ago, remixed 10 years ago, and posted 5 years ago on another website. 
I've played very little live music, and I like to record alone...I keep getting into writer's block situations like I never did way back when...but I always end up going back to the guitar...Even with all the nice, new, creative vst's I have at my disposal, I still feel most free to create on the acoustic guitar.
 

Having no deadline is great!
By the way, anybody ever tell you that you almost look like Groucho Marx?  

I love my Tascam DR 40 and keep it in the front room. I take it to every gig and band practice.
But those recordings are just used for educational purposes and song ideas. 
 
I make a bed track for my originals and then go out and play them wherever I can. 
I might make a rough demo of the song to play in the car. 
But only after I actually feel comfortable and actually have remembered my own words ( harder than you realize these days) do I try and make a proper recording of it. I use those midi driven bed tracks now. I just don't have a good drummer at my disposal anymore but if I did that's my best work, just me a guitar and a good drummer. 
But as I get better at using VST drums I'm happy enough with the results. 
I don't like comping a track I like to play from end to end so that's why I wait until I'm ready. And I'm always relaxed anyhow, I got over being intimidated by microphones a long time ago. 
I think a good way to overcome fear of recording would be to just tell yourself that I'm the only one who's ever going to listen to this. It's the same trick like we would tell singers that we were not recording but to run through the song. Then secretly arm the track.  Bests takes ever. 

jamesg1213
I remember that Steely Dan 'Making of Aja' doc, where they talked about getting the band so tightly rehearsed that they'd eventually play 'past' their parts, in other words, the tune was 2nd nature to them by then so they relaxed and started to get the feeling into it.
 

if you are in a band or recording a band, that's the way to go but it takes lots of time and dedication before recording (and potentially wears out some band members in these busy times). plus yo need to have recorded very good demos before so that you are certain that what you rehearse and record will work. the last you want is to practise forever and then hear it not working out (no you can't fix it in the mix. that's the same big lie as "it'll work in the next software release")
 
as for recording by yourself you need to find out what is best for you, but it'll always be hard to take care of technology and feel the groove at the same time. that's why you should get other people involved. somebody to lay down the beat. somebody to listen in whether you nailed it. or just somebody to push the buttons for you and tell you when it's good enough.

I also like this idea for overcoming writer's block - set forth to write and record the worst possible piece of music you can manage...then keep doing it over and over...eventually you will learn the hard way...by your own mistakes...and it's kind of weird, because some of the best riffs have come from mistakes.

Yes, I have no deadline!  And I spent my impressionable years watching and loving the Marx Brothers 

Oh that's who that is,,, I thought it was you!   

Never too young to teach your kids the value of good humor...I always felt Groucho Marx was a big middle finger to the self-important bureaucrats of the time...He was so outrageous 

I find a good way to relax before recording is to actually listen to music for a good hour or so before your session.
I think this allows you to be subconsciously or consciously for that matter, to be listening to some really good production before you start.
 
This can help once you start recording to set levels, have a feel, and get into a vibe before you start.
 
Another thing I do is demo on Garage band with a cheap mic, to try and structure the song I want to record, so i have a plan when I come to record it properly in my home studio.
 
Hope this helps.
 
 

Thanks, all...for the responses.  Very informative for me.