Am I the only one that gets a sense of accomplishment out of using up household items like a bar of soap or a bag of coffee? 

Why do I do that? Am I weird? (Rhetorical question – don’t answer that)

I think some of that ties back to work not providing much of a sense of completion on a daily basis. That’s the downside of knowledge work. I think one of the differences between working in iIndustry” versus working in consulting or banking is there is no finish line with the former.  With Banking and Consulting every project is a finish line.

The time scale in “industry” is much longer. You can look back and see “years” of accomplishment. Transitions and shifts in the business that took a relatively long time to manifest themselves.

Further reading: Shop Class as Soul Craft