You can’t beat journaling first thing in the morning, before the stresses of the day encroach upon you or last thing at night after everyone’s gone to bed. 

Turn off phone and TV and treat yourself to time with you.  Seeing your thoughts emerge on paper will not only eliminate traffic jams of thoughts in your brain but will help you contain or manage the thoughts more productively. 

Thoughts on paper written with brutal honesty allow you to become concretely aware of how your inner thoughts are affecting decision-making, good or bad.  You’ll begin to see a pattern over time that will help you know yourself more consciously and therefore make more suitable choices for you.  Having this self-knowledge will also help you to be less distracted by whatever everybody else thinks about your life.