Don't see where this has been mentioned yet specifically, but TS3 (like the others) is a time management game to the extent that we want to play it that way. Careers and basic daily tasks like cooking and taking care of the household become much easier as a sim gets better at them.
Socializing with others is very complicated and drawn out even with the LTRs that are meant to help, hence yet another grind, when either or both sims lack the Charisma skill and socially positive traits as you're only going to progress a new friendly relationship a tiny bit with each positive social interaction that way (and then lose some back if your sim accidentally says something annoying, boring, or embarrassing). At higher levels of the skill, you can practically walk past a stranger and they will like you as at least a friend and you might even discover a few of their traits just by saying hello or issuing a greeting from the sim's interactions menu that gets learned at the higher levels. The more realistic happy medium is, of course, somewhere in between.
