I actually don't think there is an easy answer to this. I think the chess engine is good to an extent. If you don't use the engine, then you may be guessing at what's good and what's bad.

My suggestion would be to find obvious mistakes, do your own analysis (find a better alternative), and then use the engine to reinforce (prove or disprove) your line of thinking.

If you are really serious about improving, you can pay someone to tutor / help you. Not my type of thing, but many people can have success with this. Alternatively, chess.com offers a pretty decent and intuitive game analysis tool if you pay for their membership.