Buddhadharma should not be separate from worldly awareness. What does it mean? To be brief, for Lay Buddhists, there is no preliminary practice other than being filial and respectful to the elders and creating harmony in your family. There is no preliminary practice other than animal liberation and being a servant for all sentient beings. All the good actions initiated from aspiration boddhicitta are preliminary practice. Besides this, there is no preliminary practice for you.
After receiving Dharma transmission from your guru, you should arrange your practice properly. Do morning practice when you have time in the morning; do night practice when you have time at night and practice at noon when you have time at noon. Recite mantras with a counter when you have time at work. This is very good management. Make use of every bit of time to practice Buddhadharma.
Don't try to distinguish among Gelug School, Nyingma School, Sakya School, Kagyu School, casual vehicle and resultant vehicle. We should eliminate the discrimination between different sects, because there is only one kind of Dharma, which is the teaching of Sakyamuni Buddha. The difference lies on their ways of transmission. So don't try to distinguish. This act will create obscuration in your practice.