Gameplay style

Maybe it's just not the right game for you? 

For me, I cannot play just one household as there is not enough variety for me. I like to play a set rotation and vary each household as much as I can with ages, jobs, interests etc. I like to see the sims interacting with my other households and seeing sims I've created as NPCs out and about. I do like to have things to aim for too, so play with the L&D bucket lists, aspirations, career progressions etc. After all these years, I am just starting to play at completing a few collections too (crystals, metals etc).

I find it also helps me to be more invested in keeping a household if I make a record of their story with screenshots and notes, which I can refer to the next time I rotate to that household.

Also, sometimes I impose my own rules, such as only allowing sims to have certain jobs if they have been to university - eg. medical career, scientist. Jobs where you would need a degree in real life. And I made a map so that sims can't just jet around the globe anywhere that doesn't make sense, but only visit nearby locations unless they go for a vacation.