Yesterday I listened to a masterclass with the great Ron Carter (bassplayer with Miles Davis's 60's quintet). At one point he was asked what and how he practices... Yes, he does still practice daily, even after having played on over 2500 recordings and at the tender age of 75.
One of the things he said really made sense to me... it's super obvious, maybe so obvious that we sometimes overlook it... YOU HAVE ONLY PRACTISED IF YOU TOOK SOMETHING YOU COULDN'T DO PROPERLY AND YOU GOT IT RIGHT. This doesn't mean you have to perfect a really difficult piece at performance tempo every time you practice, but it does mean you should be able to describe what you ACHIEVED in your practice session, and not just talk in general terms about what you worked-on. For example, 'I practised improvisation for an hour and scales for 30 minutes' is not a valid description of practice. 'I worked on improvising on "Rhythm changes" to learn to deal with the chords on the B section and I found 5 new ways to get through the section and it took me an hour' is a good, measurable evaluation of the time you spent.
If you find yourself 'noodling' on your instrument during 'practice time' something is wrong with your approach. Practice is about ensuring constant and consistent progress. Great focus is required in order to ensure that your time is used in as beneficial a manner as is possible, because there are not enough hours in the day to mess around.
If you are truly dedicated to making a statement on your instrument then your time MUST be organised and geared towards positive change in your playing. If it is, then you are PRACTISING.
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