Today I realized that since my first (and self) sim is still only a young adult, I had to have her quit her culinary career because it was too difficult maintaining her needs. All she could do was shower, eat, work and sleep. She was always getting negative moodlets from not having enough fun, despite the fact that she's a natural cook and should love being at a cooking job. I had only got her up to level 4 in the career so I figured I didn't lose out on too much, but it bugs me that I had to do so just so I could get a handle on her fulfilling all of her needs. I guess I'm too used to "maxmotives" which doesn't work in TS3.

Also, this is my first post! I've been a lurker for years so I finally joined.

when they go to work in a terrible mood, have them take it easy at work, they may not get a promotion right away but it will be easier to take care of them when they get home

I've found sims pretty easy to take care of in TS3. Mine do so much more out of the house than my TS2 sims because their mood bars decay slower.

I guess it just takes practice.

Having a schedule makes things so much easier. My doctor sim uses the toilet and showers before bed, and wakes up an hour before the car pool to eat a quick meal. After work he does a bit of skilling/reading for his job, then does something to get his fun up. I find it pretty easy to keep his motives up this way, and only occassionally does he get stressed out at work.

Now if you'd rather bypass all that nonsense, there is something easier than maxmotives.
Ctrl-Shift-C to open cheat window
Type in "testingcheatsenabled true"
Drag all your sims motives to the max (just click the motive bar, hold down the left mouse button, and drag it up)
Then go to their mail box, hold down shift and click, and chose 'stagnant needs'...it could be 'stagnant motives' or something similar, but you will know it when you see it.
By doing that, your sims needs will NEVER drop =)

A computer works wonders, increasing fun and social with chatting with someone or gaming for just fun. Once you unlock the steel bladder it gets easier as well...later followed with the hunger and hygiene buff. Once you have those, and working less due to promotions it gets much easier.

When we kept being told that the needs would be extremely easy to take care of (I remember when a lot of us thought that clicking a "Matt is hungry" button would fill him up, like a tamagotchi), I was worried. I liked dealing with their needs.

Lucky for me (I guess) this was another failed promise. Taking care of Sims 3 Sims is just as tiresome as Sims 2.

Am I missing something? I went looking for some sort of indicator bars like in Sims2 so you could see how your sims needs were decaying and see which ones were about to decay. But I could not find anything like that. Is it there or not?

The only way I know my sims need something is when the need is pretty much upon them and the icon comes up saying Allison needs to sleep soon or she'll be grumpy. They tend to take care of their needs themselves. I have them on maximum free will. But other than that, I feel kind of blind to what's going on with their needs.

Some things are easier now. For instance, cooking takes just as long but Sims spend a LOT less time eating, and pretty much any meal will fill a sim up.

And as you progress, you can start buying the needs annenuation aspiration rewards.

You'll also get perks that save you time from skill development. Like upgrading your appliances to be self-cleaning or unbreakable.

Edit: Summersong, the needs bars are still there. It's the last tab on the tabbed part of the interface (rightmost section).

Oh thank you! I'm glad it's still there. I can't believe I missed something so obvious! Thanks again!

On the UI with their moodlets and wishes, on the right, there's an arrow which if you click will expand the UI. There are tabs at the top of different views like relationship, work performance, and what you're looking for - needs.

I cheated a little and upgraded the house furnishings a bit so that they offer more positive moodlets. I just put my sim back in the culinary career so I'm hoping I can get the hang of it now. Although, she's starting back at the bottom. But I've got her up to level 7 in cooking so it shouldn't take too long to progress. I should have her do the skills she needs to upgrade her appliances to self cleaning and unbreakable, then I can fire the maid (who is really expensive!!! and just stands around for hours doing nothing!)

Good luck -- and remember, when you're at work, up on the upper left is a drop down that lets you pick -how- you are working. If you're finding that your sim gets really stressed out all the time at work, switch them to 'Take it easy' for a couple of hours. They'll still progress at work just more slowly, and it won't get them fired. It can make the difference between a freaked out Sim and a relatively happy one. You can also hang out with your co-workers to increase social.

Also, your sim will automatically go to the bathroom and feed itself at work, so I usually just make sure they're as well-rested as they can be and clean. You can have them brush their teeth for a little 4 hour moodlet that bumps their mood, too, and it doesn't take long.

It most definitely takes practice. I had no idea why it was so hard at first, but now I have a level 10 business Sim who's wife just got a new job and two infants at home. It's all about learning how the new time/mood/decay system works and how to manage it.

Quick thanks! I knew I had to do something with the mailbox, but wasn't sure how to make it work. I have been searching through the posts to find this info!