Anticipation

I've heard that anticipation of positive events (such as holidays) results in a bigger mental boost than the actual events themselves. Is it also true, then, that anticipation of negative events (getting fired) is worse than the actual negative event? Perhaps that's the reason behind the "get it over and done with" philosophy, the reason we procrastinate (things seem worse before you do them, so you don't bother) and ripping band aids off in one go (peeling slowly prolongs negative anticipation of the rest of the pain). Maybe it doesn't apply in all those cases, but I do think it might explain a lot.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Call it the Anticipation Magnification Effect.
PPS - Sounds like a Big Bang Theory episode title.