I never turn the FD off. Hand fly every departure and most arrivals below 10,000'. At some point hand flying at higher altitudes is not teaching an experienced pilot anything. New guys? Sure, learn the difference in pitch sensitivity as altitude and mach increase. Old timers? Waste of time and effort.
Sometimes during high work load departures/arrivals, like thunderstorms, AP might be used to decrease workload as necessary. That's what it's there for, a balance of workload vs. manual skills maintenance.
Do I USE the FD all the time? No. Ignore it when necessary("look past"). It's not that tough.
SOP requires FD on for takeoff. Boeing - "the FD pitch command is not used for rotation." In other words, you have to look past it.
