diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9f2de78..5fdb0eb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Changed
 
 - The memory_allocation_type in the slurm engine now default to per_node instead of per_cpu for consistency with other engines
+- Improved the scheduling approach of the LocalEngine
 
 ### Added
 - Support for async workflow definitions. If await tk.async_run(obj) is called sisyphus will wait until all Path objects inside of obj are available
diff --git a/sisyphus/localengine.py b/sisyphus/localengine.py
index 7de9a42..a754d47 100644
--- a/sisyphus/localengine.py
+++ b/sisyphus/localengine.py
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ def start_engine(self):
         if self.started:
             return
         # control input
-        self.input_queue = queue.Queue()
+        self.runnable_tasks = sync_object([])
         self.waiting_tasks = sync_object({})
 
         # control output / which tasks are currently running
@@ -194,21 +194,20 @@ def release_resources(self, rqmt, selected_devices):
 
     @tools.default_handle_exception_interrupt_main_thread
     def run(self):
-        next_task = None
         try:
             while self.running.value:
                 self.check_finished_tasks()
 
                 wait = True  # wait if no new job is started
-                # get next task
-                logging.debug("Check for new task (Free resources %s)" % self.free_resources)
-                with self.waiting_tasks as waiting_tasks:  # get object for synchronisation
-                    if next_task is None and not self.input_queue.empty():
-                        next_task = self.input_queue.get()
-                        logging.debug("Found new task: %s" % str(next_task))
+                # check runnable tasks
+                logging.debug("Check for new tasks (Free resources %s)" % self.free_resources)
+                # get object for synchronisation
+                with self.waiting_tasks as waiting_tasks, self.runnable_tasks as runnable_tasks:
+                    runnable_task_idx = 0
 
                     # run next task if the capacities are available
-                    if next_task is not None:
+                    while runnable_task_idx < len(runnable_tasks):
+                        next_task = runnable_tasks[runnable_task_idx]
                         with self.running_tasks as running_tasks:
                             # if enough free resources => run job
                             if self.enough_free_resources(next_task.rqmt):
@@ -225,8 +224,10 @@ def run(self):
                                 # Start job:
                                 process = self.start_task(next_task, selected_gpus)
                                 running_tasks[name] = (process, next_task, selected_gpus)
-                                next_task = None
+                                del runnable_tasks[runnable_task_idx]
                                 wait = False
+                            else:
+                                runnable_task_idx += 1
 
                 if wait:
                     # check only once per second for new jobs
@@ -255,8 +256,8 @@ def submit_call(self, call, logpath, rqmt, name, task_name, task_ids):
             call_with_id += ["--redirect_output"]
 
             task = TaskQueueInstance(call_with_id, logpath, rqmt, name, task_name, task_id)
-            with self.waiting_tasks as waiting_tasks:
-                self.input_queue.put(task)
+            with self.waiting_tasks as waiting_tasks, self.runnable_tasks as runnable_tasks:
+                runnable_tasks.append(task)
                 waiting_tasks[(name, task_id)] = task
         return ENGINE_NAME, socket.gethostname()