One thing the OP needs to realize, no matter what their goals are for their worlds, is that they are playing the game all wrong. What we are meant to do is put on a fresh pot of coffee (tea, whatever one's beverages of choice are) and settle in for many all night sessions of world planning, demographics analysis, lots of charts, graphs, and math are called for, as we map out our worlds' progressions into the next generations.
I am, of course, joking. >:) :p
But it's still fascinating to me how many different ways players approach their games and what we all get out of them by playing so differently. :)