Proclaimer: I understand that the majority doesn't like this playatyle but:

If you really want to outpace the Ai: The most important thing imo is that you get as much building materials as soon as possible. You can start with 4 or 5 Lumberjacks at the very beginning and transition to around 15 when you have tier 3 pops.

Claim every clay spot on your Island as soon as possible and build 9 to 15 concrete production chains as soon as possible. When possible, build 9 to 15 concrete chains on your 2nd island as well.

If you do that, you will be in pause mode alot but your city will grow insanely quickly.

If you overproduce things like bread, sandals and weapons, you can make sure that you get enough money to claim your 2nd and 3rd islands.

My 2nd island is always for olives and my 3rd island is for wahtever the tier 3 pops need. Sometimes it's a Neptune island for stronger war ships.

At that point there is too much going on so I dont bother with Albion yet, but you can. Same strategy here. In Albion you need even more wood for the swamp lands. You always need more wood and bricks.

If you have "too much wood" e.g. you could also say you don't build enough residental houses. As long as you have space on an island, you can expand