How well did the Third Reich meet the challenges of total war on the home front?

Overall, the answer to this is that the Nazi government
did not do all that well in meeting the challenges of total war.  The government did not
change its economy to a wartime footing nearly as much as it could have.  This caused
problems for the German economy.

During the war, Hitler was
very concerned about the idea that the German people might stop supporting his regime
and the war effort.  Because of this, he did not do as much as he might have to put all
of Germany's efforts towards the war effort.  One example of this was the fact that
Germany never did make a concerted effort to get women working during the war in the way
that other countries did.  He is said to have worried that such a big change would
antagonize the German people.  Similarly, the government did not institute rationing or
make average Germans cut back much on their way of life for much of the war.  Once
again, they feared that the people might rebel if they were asked to make such
sacrifices.

Because of this fear of domestic strife, the
Nazis were not able to meet the challenges of total war as well as they might
have.