If you can't play with the metronome because you are falling behind or can't stay on beat.....then the metronome is fulfilling its purpose of telling you that you need to practice more with it.

You can't just "feel" that you do better without it. Your brain doesn't work like a metronome, so even though you may think you are on beat, you might actually not be.

Don't skip it. There is a reason everyone tells you to use it.