How Should I Structure my Practice?

[waldospe]

I'm new and have been playing for about 5 weeks.  I have a teacher and she's been great.  I'm moved up to level 3 pieces from Alfred's books.  That make sense?  Not sure if those levels are universal or specific to the publisher.

On top of that I've picked up some pop type music by playing around with a handful of chords/inverting them etc.  I can also play Journey's Faithfully... mostly b/c I just sat down at the piano for three hours straight until I could make it sound.  Not the most ideal way to learn something.

My teacher, however, is pumped.  She said I'm where most of her adult students are after a few months, and sometimes, longer.  Now I have an advantage that I work from home full-time and can sit down at the piano for at least 30 minutes a day.  Most days an hour.

With all that being said, how should I structure my practice?  Working on the level 3 pieces is much slower going than the previous pieces.  I can pick apart a few measures, but, I'll spend most of my time working on those few measures over and over again.  Should I maybe spend some time working on some shorter exercises outside of the pieces for a little diversity?  Is there a recommendation on working on scales or chords outside of the two works I have right now?

In summary, I can practice a lot.  I just don't know how to spend the time I have available to me.

Thanks!
Jeff