Trent, if you ever get stuck with figuring out the work station for one of your peeps, just try putting them on either the computers in the office, the work tables in the workshop or the kitchen work area in the kitchen.

The game's programming does not run the game when it is closed, what it does is save the last time the game was opened and when you next open the game it calculates how much time has passed and apply that time to your people.

For example, if you were gone for 24 hours this will age your peeps by 7 years and when you open the game, your peeps will be 7 years older, hungrier, possibly sick (this is random) and likely a messy house. You can always pause the game if you know you will not be able to check on them in a while.

I also recommend saving backups of the game just in case something ever goes wrong! You can read more about this here!

Best of luck with all of your families and I hope you have a wonderful time here in the forums!