Sims keep pausing, but time continues to run

Ericab44  Please try a new save in a clean user folder, for comparison's sake.  Move the entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop.  When you launch the game, a clean folder will spawn with no content.  (Your saves and other content will be intact in the folder you've moved but temporarily unread by the game.)  Don't add anything to the new folder yet; just start a new save and see how it runs.

If the new save is affected too, please provide a dxdiag.  Click Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop.  From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons.

So far seems like it’s running normally with the new game. Is there a way for me to save the old one? That was my main legacy challenge so I’d hate to lose it 

Ericab44  There may or may not be a way to fix this save, and it'll take some experimenting.  First, load the save, but a different, previously-unplayed household, in a different world, and see how it runs.

If the other household is fine, try your main household again, but on a different lot, a default EA creation rather than something from the Gallery.  You can also try them on the same lot but with their inventories empty (and the fridge empty too), and both together.

If your main household has this issue even on a default lot and with the sims' inventories empty, split the household and test each sim separately.  It's possible that only one is a problem.

The idea here is to try to isolate the cause of the issue.  You don't need to save your progress after any of this, or you can use "save as" and rename the save so you have a testing copy to work with while your original remains intact.