Pirate-Jack

Easy way to fight off TEC lfs is to bring a 2:1 ratio of fighters:bombers. The bombers will go off and kill those pesky defensive structures and frigate factories (always a priority target) while the fighters will rip the lfs to shreds. If that doesn't work try taking a few kanrak assailants with you (the designated anti-light frigate weapon of the Vasari) since they only take one military lab to build and are generally cheaper on credits than skirmishers, and they're lethal to low tier

You just hold ctrl+[number] while having the necessary unit/building/planet selected. Clicking the relevant number again will select it, double-click will zoom you straight to it. It's the most basic rts trick in the books.

My general planetary defence network is three hanger defences at the point furthest from any phase lanes (7 fighters, 2 bombers purely to stop the enemy fighters from taking out my fighters before I can hit the sieges), a PJI right next to the frigate factory (or two), two repair bays around all the key structures and a couple of turrets where the AI normally goes for with the siege frigates. It makes for a good all round defence and I don't have to spend undue amounts of time placin

Personally, I micromanage only when I'm using a fleet and relegate it to the 8-0 numbers otherwise. It gets rather difficult in places, especially if I have more than two fronts open at a time or am operating in several star systems at once, but on a small scale it's very effective. Edit: I just realised that the best way to get around this is by designing a keyboard with multiple rows of number keys... I'll make millions!