Many students would use a clock or stopwatch to ensure that they've practiced a minimum required time each day. Yesterday, I instead used a stopwatch to set a limit on the amount of time I spent on each part of my regimen. This was helpful because I can too easily lose track of time in practice.
I also found that being time-conscious made me more likely to focus on my problem areas. I was less likely to be lulled into "performance practice" as Ricardo Iznaola describes the act of playing through a whole piece.
I practiced for 1.7 hours and skipped some parts of my regimen. I might have gone for two hours but the sight reading exercises for the day were easy.
Wish I had slept better last night. My playing is observably better when I've had enough restful sleep.
