Great advice. I'd also suggest taking advantage of rainy days. My last instructing job required students to come in rain or shine (we were salaried). Those students really did well on flight exams and we've seen the pass rate increase remarkably since I went through the program. I really liked having private pilot students that didn't just spew out rote knowledge and instead could describe a system on a working level and understand what they were talking about.
If you're not in this situation, you should still consider it. The instructor can introduce new things and take more time working with you on tasks that are initially difficult like weather and cross country planning. You'll spend less time with the hobbs running trying to figure things out and your instructor will appreciate an hour or two of pay on a day when they would otherwise be sitting at home. If you don't meet with the instructor, hop in the plane and do some 'hangar flying' and work on flows and procedures. The second one shouldn't cost you a thing.