I have never played an 8 sim household, it's usually one sim or a family of three or four sims. However, I don't try to play against time, as I play with long seasons and aging off, and generally a slow game so if they don't get to skill up today, they can always do it tomorrow. But I've noticed that sims are quite good at taking care of their needs in TS4 if they have what's needed on their lot and they will skill up in whatever they use anyway. In my gameplay I try to make my sims as autonomous as possible. I make them cook group meals, even for single sims, and fill their fridge with leftovers so there's always ready made food available. For kids and toddlers, I usually leave a group meal out on the table or counter and they can help themselves. I try to add bathrooms on every floor of a house, so they don't waste time going up and down the stairs all the time. And speaking of going up and down the stairs, toddlers always get a ground floor bedroom. This way they can easily reach food in the kitchen and when they are tired they can put themselves to sleep in their own bed. Social need is easy to take care of if you have a family because they talk to each other. For fun, they can do group activities depending on age and also multitasking activities such a watching TV and talking while having meal together. With pets, I give them those timed food dispensers so I don't have to refill their bowls every time. The cats usually get the laser litter box that cleans itself. Also, with larger households, I've noticed that it helps to have all sims in view, so it's better to have single floor houses or at least put skill and fun activities on one floor only so you don't have to always switch floors to see where is everyone and what they are doing. Also, you need to make sure your community lots are family friendly, so if you take a family there everyone's needs will be met and they can all have fun or skill up without having to worry about needs.
