One way that I have been able to increase my productivity in Illustrator is to use applescript to automate certain tasks. A script can accomplish certain tasks many times faster and more accurately than a human. For me, this has helped to take the sting out of the loss of Freehand.
I'm starting to create interfaces for some of the simpler scripts so that others can benefit without having to learn a scripting language. The first beta version is available on my site. There's a youtube video that demonstrates how it works. I'm now working on the second version so please use the feedback form to request new features or to report problems.
http://www.cbreier.com/2012/06/art-utility-beta.html
Chris