Tailoring your flight training to match the way your brain works best, is the right thing to do, and is not a waste of time, energy and effort.
But... just as an instructor should have some flexibility in order to meet the student's needs, the student needs some degree of flexibility in understanding that his personal view of what the matrix should be may require adjustment.
There is a proviso to this: I'm sure others here with more practical knowledge than me will tell you that if you are aspiring to a career, dealing in a multi-pilot crew may mean more "when-where-why-how" structure imposed on both training and flying by others and less imposed by you.