I just give myself a temporal gear if I want to do this. Is it cheating.. yes, but sometimes why not.
I sort of hate the "must have' mod lists. I think you should try the game as intended and then adjust to what makes you happy. Starting off with mods just robs you of the fun of figuring out what works for you.
I would say "me too!" but then I remember sometimes I sleep just to pass time through the winter or to get leather faster. I really hate looking at the barrel and it says 1.1 days out of 4.5 days.
I think your right, this is the intent of the game. You are supposed to die and die and die, but darn it I hate dying in games... In my day dying in a game meant something!