To a certain point, I can. It's all about time management and becoming a little obsessive-compulsive in the order that you make your Sims do things.
That and SMALL families. (I restarted one of my neighborhoods after a few families had 10 kids.. I couldn't take it, so I started over. Much better now. Dustin Broke and Lilith Pleasant actually grew up quite well this time around. hehe)