Its hard to take everything in and alot of people who've done things long enough have their own way that things "should be done". I do try and mix things up when I play. I always start with basic scales for no real definate period, usually 30 minutes of so. Always slow and as proper in form as I can manage. I usually record my final play through of each portion of my practice and listen to it afterwords.

I then play some of the etudes from here as they do tend to follow the simplistic melodies I am attempting to learn. For another 20 to 30 minutes I work on the basic songs I am given from my (today) soon to be second lesson with an instructor. I always end my sessions with songs I tought myself by ear. Some of the bowing , stops and pressure I do from ear playing I cannot read on a music sheet, but with little effort, I can figure out what to do to replicate what I hear. It still sounds mechanical, but I am sure once I become fluid in the bow strokes and confident in my play ability, all my music will sound alot better.

Of course, being a University of Michigan Alumni, I end all my sessions with the long version of our fight song,     How can it possibly get any better then that? To quote the comedian Brian Regen, "I submit that it cannot".