Dread can be a powerful motivational tool

We weigh negatives twice as heavily as positives. This is similar to loss aversion: We prefer avoiding losses than acquiring equivalent gains.

Loss aversion focuses narrowly on losses and gains, however, while subjective magnitude broadly considers positive and negative events.

That idea was put forward at Fast Company: "Don't want to do something? Tell yourself that it will be horrible. The worst. A godforsaken burden."

Immediate gratification is more strongly woven into our DNA than dread. Yet dread can be a motivational tool as well. Cognitive reframing can stop procrastination in its tracks.