Oh! It's rare to have any sort of epiphany when reading something on a weblog, but, here, from Evan Schaeffer's Notes from the (Legal) Underground:

Back in the office, I did something I rarely do, which was to ask for more time from opposing counsel to file a brief I should have filed yesterday. These requests for extensions are always granted--and I'm always willing to grant them for others--but I hate to ask for more time because I'm afraid it will develop into a habit.

You mean there are extensions?? We spend all that time in Civ Pro learning about 20 days for this, and 10 days for that, and sanctions, and oh no! And it turns out not only can you ask for an extension, but people do all the time, and they're granted, and it's just not that big of a deal? Oh!