diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f768ad1d..03e1bc05 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ nosetests.xml
 .project
 .pydevproject
 
+.idea/
+
 venv
 pypy
 .DS_Store
diff --git a/mrq/config.py b/mrq/config.py
index fd693b03..aed2a767 100644
--- a/mrq/config.py
+++ b/mrq/config.py
@@ -296,6 +296,14 @@ def add_parser_args(parser, config_type):
             type=str,
             help='Overwrite the local IP, to be displayed in the dashboard.')
 
+        parser.add_argument(
+            '--max_latency',
+            default=1.,
+            type=float,
+            action='store',
+            help='Max seconds while worker may sleep waiting for a new job. '
+                 'Can be < 1.')
+
 
 def get_config(
         sources=(
diff --git a/mrq/worker.py b/mrq/worker.py
index 18ce451e..732ed975 100644
--- a/mrq/worker.py
+++ b/mrq/worker.py
@@ -375,11 +375,6 @@ def work_loop(self):
                     self.status = "full"
                     gevent.sleep(0.01)
 
-                quiet = not (wait_count % 20 == 0 or wait_count > 1000)
-
-                if not quiet:
-                    self.log.info('Fetching %s jobs from %s' % (free_pool_slots, self.queues))
-
                 jobs = []
 
                 for queue_name in self.queues:
@@ -408,7 +403,7 @@ def work_loop(self):
                 if len(jobs) < free_pool_slots:
                     self.status = "wait"
                     wait_count += 1
-                    gevent.sleep(min(1, 0.001 * wait_count))
+                    gevent.sleep(min(self.config["max_latency"], 0.001 * wait_count))
 
         except StopRequested:
             pass