How much lighter would your bike+rider combo be if you just took $560 in cash from your pocket and set fire to it? Because I'll bet that is a similar effect to what you are proposing. Unless something is not functioning properly (which is almost always a result of poor set-up when dealing with Shimano) then there is very little you can do to make it demonstrably better. You could just change the crank and front derailleur to a double setup, but that is imho just taking a step backwards for no practical reason. Practice shifting your triple and make sure you know how to keep it super-tuned. If someone is faster than you it isn't your small chainring's fault.