I've been training myself using Manual setting, whether it's aperture, iso, shutter . Although I'm not the kind to know instantly exactly what combinations can be used. That's my goal in the next few months, hopefully. I find that it gives me confidence to know a bit about how each work and what happens if they're individually or collectively adjusted, manually. I think it's mostly about having that confidence that a tech device isn't so 'rocket science.'
I definitely don't mind auto settings as well to sort of measure what 'standard' I can take my images at. You can always play with your manual settings anyway unless it's an on-the-fly shoot.