Strategy for next move in a crowded situation White is in the presumably better position in the situation below. However, under such conditions (e.g. there are tight formations of many pieces on the board), I find it usually hard to 'breach' the opponent's defense, i.e. to capitalize the advantage.

For example, I tend to favor c4 as the next move and subsequently trying to capture/exchange pieces in order to clear the way to the king.

The question here is what the direction of white's next moves should be?



[FEN "2k1rbnr/ppp5/1q4p1/3pNp1p/1P1P4/B1P1P1P1/P3Q2P/1KR1R3 w Kk - 0 1"]
The position you are having here is also quiet though I guess. 
You can ask yourself first: What do I want to play for? 
Then you can analyse the position as the following: 
1.) Black has some kind of weakness in the g6 pawn, how can I attack that? 
2.) The rook is placed good for opening the c-file, how do I achieve that? 
3.) What are the ideas for black in the position? 

Then you can search for answers for those questions. 
1.) There is no direct way to attack that, but 1. h4 would fix the pawn structure for the moment, therefore it would fix the weakness. 
Nevertheless, after 1... Bg7 your knight is not very stable on e5, so you probably have to move it away and there is no real way of keeping the pressure on g6, therefor the plan to go for the weakness doesn't really appeal to me. 
2.) If you want to play c4 and you want to sidestep Bxb4, a5 ideas, 1. Ka1 could be a smart move. If you assume for a moment that you have to moves in a row, 1.Ka1 2. c4 would allow 2... Bxb4 but after 3. c5 Qa5 4. Bxb4 Qxb4 5. c6 you would have some initative. 
3.) Black has several plans, like kicking the knight away from e5 with Bg7, placing the own knight on e4, making pressure on e3. However, placing the knight on e4 is not easy yet since Nf6 allows Nxg6. Therefore black needs to kick the knight away with Bg7 or Bd6 (the latter one allows c4 with threatening c5). 

Now you can think of what happens if black tries any of them after 1. Ka1/h4 like 1... Bg7 2. Nd3 and so on, seeing which option seems to be the best objectively and so on improve your position.