I think you sort of anwered you own question by the "I don't use these
on a typical flight"

I like to think of it like learning Algebra. You don't do all that
homework to learn how to do homework.
You do it so that you have repeated the processes enough that you
retain them.

Actually you probably do use much of what you did on a typical flight
or at least you should.
While you won't do them in detail you will use much the same processes
on a larger scale.

Here are some things I think you should be doing on typical flights
after you get your rating..
Figuring how much endurance do you have. (Fuel - Hours)
Figuring Magnetic Headings for your destination.
Figuring long will it take to get to your destination.
Checking your route and progress with check points. (You hopefully
don't just blindly follow the GPS)
Recalculate the above in the air if your destination changes.

True GPS's can make most of these easy, But I have had 3 GPS's fail on
me. Two were actual GPS Failures the 3rd was a Notamed outage of the
GPS Signal.

The point being you never know when you might have to find a pencil
and map and figure out where you are and where you are going. It is a
skill you should be able to do, which is why we teach it and make you
practice it over and over again as a student. It is up to you to stay
profecient at them after you become a licensed pilot.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL