I have heard of people who practice a skill in their dreams. I have not had much success with it, myself. Even my most lucid dreams are still a bit too "dreamlike" for anything overly practical. Any time I do something that takes a lot of attention, it begins to take over the dream. For example, when I practice painting, the task takes my whole attention. If I get too focused on the image I am trying to create, it takes over as the main dream scene. I will no longer be in a studio painting a landscape, I will be in the landscape, itself. I don't know if this makes any sense.

I am also very good at fooling myself in dreams. I can't sing worth crap in real life, and don't know anything about music. In lucid dreams, I often burst into song, singing what I believe are beautiful, complicated arrangements. I'm sure they are nothing of the sort. Similarly, I am often convinced I discovered a hilarious joke, or a brilliant insight. When I wake and write it down, it turns out to be complete nonsense.

I do find dreams very helpful for my design work. It is unfairly easy for me to solve complex design problems, come up with creative ideas, and artistic inspiration. Lucid dreaming has been immeasurably helpful to my education and my career.