[MacBerry]

I don't think the consequences have to be bad, there just have to BE consequences, even if only a feeling of guilt or of time marching on.

So I use due dates wherever intuitively I think "must get that done by....." or "must get that done within......".

It can even be that an action doesn't start with a due date, but you add one later when you start to feel it's been hanging around too long, to give yourself a deadline. Due dates don't have to come from outside.

My 2p