diff --git a/src/praetor/mod.rs b/src/praetor/mod.rs
index ebad441..90191cd 100644
--- a/src/praetor/mod.rs
+++ b/src/praetor/mod.rs
@@ -435,6 +435,7 @@ mod job {
         // these cannot be boxes because boxes are noalias.
         head: NonNull<Job>,
         tail: NonNull<Job>,
+        job_count: usize,
     }
 
     impl Debug for JobList {
@@ -488,6 +489,7 @@ mod job {
                 Self {
                     head: NonNull::new_unchecked(head),
                     tail: NonNull::new_unchecked(tail),
+                    job_count: 0,
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -501,6 +503,7 @@ mod job {
 
         /// elem must be valid until it is popped.
         pub unsafe fn push_front<T>(&mut self, elem: *const Job<T>) {
+            self.job_count += 1;
             let head_link = unsafe { self.head.as_ref().link_mut() };
 
             // SAFETY: head will always have a previous element.
@@ -518,6 +521,7 @@ mod job {
 
         /// elem must be valid until it is popped.
         pub unsafe fn push_back<T>(&mut self, elem: *const Job<T>) {
+            self.job_count += 1;
             let tail_link = unsafe { self.tail.as_ref().link_mut() };
 
             // SAFETY: tail will always have a previous element.
@@ -535,6 +539,7 @@ mod job {
 
         #[allow(dead_code)]
         pub fn pop_front(&mut self) -> Option<NonNull<Job>> {
+            self.job_count -= 1;
             let head_link = unsafe { self.head.as_ref().link_mut() };
 
             // SAFETY: head will always have a previous element.
@@ -551,6 +556,7 @@ mod job {
         }
 
         pub fn pop_back(&mut self) -> Option<NonNull<Job>> {
+            self.job_count -= 1;
             // TODO: next and elem might be the same
             let tail_link = unsafe { self.tail.as_ref().link_mut() };
 
@@ -566,6 +572,15 @@ mod job {
 
             Some(elem)
         }
+
+        #[allow(dead_code)]
+        pub fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
+            self.job_count == 0
+        }
+
+        pub fn len(&self) -> usize {
+            self.job_count
+        }
     }
 
     impl Drop for JobList {
@@ -1272,7 +1287,10 @@ impl WorkerThread {
 
         // TODO: add counter to job queue, check for low job count to decide whether to use heartbeat or seq.
         // see: chili
-        if self.join_count.get() == 1 {
+
+        // SAFETY: this function runs in a worker thread, so we can access the queue safely.
+        if count == 0 || unsafe { self.queue.as_ref_unchecked().len() } < 3 {
+            cold_path();
             self.join_heartbeat(a, b)
         } else {
             self.join_seq(a, b)
@@ -1946,15 +1964,32 @@ fn worker(ctx: Arc<Context>, barrier: Arc<std::sync::Barrier>) {
     barrier.wait();
 
     let mut job = ctx.shared.lock().pop_job();
-    loop {
-        if let Some(job) = job {
-            worker.execute(job);
-        }
+    'outer: loop {
+        let mut guard = loop {
+            if let Some(job) = job {
+                worker.execute(job);
+            }
 
-        let mut guard = ctx.shared.lock();
-        if guard.should_stop {
-            break;
-        }
+            let mut guard = ctx.shared.lock();
+            if guard.should_stop {
+                // if the context is stopped, break out of the outer loop which
+                // will exit the thread.
+                break 'outer;
+            }
+
+            match guard.pop_job() {
+                Some(job) => {
+                    tracing::trace!("worker: popping job: {:?}", job);
+                    // found job, continue inner loop
+                    continue;
+                }
+                None => {
+                    tracing::trace!("worker: no job, waiting for shared job");
+                    // no more jobs, break out of inner loop and wait for shared job
+                    break guard;
+                }
+            }
+        };
 
         ctx.shared_job.wait(&mut guard);
         job = guard.pop_job();