diff --git a/notify/src/config.rs b/notify/src/config.rs
index ac855203..05806645 100644
--- a/notify/src/config.rs
+++ b/notify/src/config.rs
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ impl RecursiveMode {
 #[derive(Copy, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Debug, Hash)]
 pub struct Config {
     /// See [BackendConfig::with_poll_interval]
-    poll_interval: Duration,
+    poll_interval: Option<Duration>,
 
     /// See [BackendConfig::with_compare_contents]
     compare_contents: bool,
@@ -52,15 +52,33 @@ impl Config {
     ///
     /// The default poll frequency is 30 seconds.
     pub fn with_poll_interval(mut self, dur: Duration) -> Self {
-        self.poll_interval = dur;
+        // TODO: v7.0 break signature to option
+        self.poll_interval = Some(dur);
         self
     }
 
     /// Returns current setting
+    #[deprecated(
+        since = "6.1.0",
+        note = "use poll_interval_v2 to account for disabled automatic polling"
+    )]
     pub fn poll_interval(&self) -> Duration {
+        // TODO: v7.0 break signature to option
+        self.poll_interval.unwrap_or_default()
+    }
+
+    /// Returns current setting
+    pub fn poll_interval_v2(&self) -> Option<Duration> {
+        // TODO: v7.0 break signature to option
         self.poll_interval
     }
 
+    /// Disable automatic polling. Requires calling [crate::PollWatcher::poll] manually.
+    pub fn with_manual_polling(mut self) -> Self {
+        self.poll_interval = None;
+        self
+    }
+
     /// For [crate::PollWatcher]
     ///
     /// Optional feature that will evaluate the contents of changed files to determine if
@@ -85,7 +103,7 @@ impl Config {
 impl Default for Config {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Self {
-            poll_interval: Duration::from_secs(30),
+            poll_interval: Some(Duration::from_secs(5)),
             compare_contents: false,
         }
     }
diff --git a/notify/src/poll.rs b/notify/src/poll.rs
index 6cc87027..30fb2556 100644
--- a/notify/src/poll.rs
+++ b/notify/src/poll.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 //! Checks the `watch`ed paths periodically to detect changes. This implementation only uses
 //! Rust stdlib APIs and should work on all of the platforms it supports.
 
-use crate::{Config, EventHandler, RecursiveMode, Watcher};
+use crate::{unbounded, Config, Error, EventHandler, Receiver, RecursiveMode, Sender, Watcher};
 use std::{
     collections::HashMap,
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ pub type ScanEvent = crate::Result<PathBuf>;
 /// Very much the same as [EventHandler], but including the Result.
 ///
 /// See the full example for more information.
-/// ```
 pub trait ScanEventHandler: Send + 'static {
     /// Handles an event.
     fn handle_event(&mut self, event: ScanEvent);
@@ -477,7 +476,10 @@ pub struct PollWatcher {
     watches: Arc<Mutex<HashMap<PathBuf, WatchData>>>,
     data_builder: Arc<Mutex<DataBuilder>>,
     want_to_stop: Arc<AtomicBool>,
-    delay: Duration,
+    /// channel to the poll loop  
+    /// currently used only for active polling
+    message_channel: Sender<()>,
+    delay: Option<Duration>,
 }
 
 impl PollWatcher {
@@ -486,6 +488,14 @@ impl PollWatcher {
         Self::with_opt::<_, ()>(event_handler, config, None)
     }
 
+    /// Actively poll for changes. Can be combined with a timeout of 0 to perform only manual polling.
+    pub fn poll(&self) -> crate::Result<()> {
+        self.message_channel
+            .send(())
+            .map_err(|_| Error::generic("failed to send poll message"))?;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     /// Create a new [PollWatcher] with an scan event handler.
     ///
     /// `scan_fallback` is called on the initial scan with all files seen by the pollwatcher.
@@ -497,7 +507,7 @@ impl PollWatcher {
         Self::with_opt(event_handler, config, Some(scan_callback))
     }
 
-    /// create a new pollwatcher with all options
+    /// create a new PollWatcher with all options
     fn with_opt<F: EventHandler, G: ScanEventHandler>(
         event_handler: F,
         config: Config,
@@ -506,19 +516,22 @@ impl PollWatcher {
         let data_builder =
             DataBuilder::new(event_handler, config.compare_contents(), scan_callback);
 
+        let (tx, rx) = unbounded();
+
         let poll_watcher = PollWatcher {
             watches: Default::default(),
             data_builder: Arc::new(Mutex::new(data_builder)),
             want_to_stop: Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false)),
-            delay: config.poll_interval(),
+            delay: config.poll_interval_v2(),
+            message_channel: tx,
         };
 
-        poll_watcher.run();
+        poll_watcher.run(rx);
 
         Ok(poll_watcher)
     }
 
-    fn run(&self) {
+    fn run(&self, rx: Receiver<()>) {
         let watches = Arc::clone(&self.watches);
         let data_builder = Arc::clone(&self.data_builder);
         let want_to_stop = Arc::clone(&self.want_to_stop);
@@ -546,18 +559,12 @@ impl PollWatcher {
                             watch_data.rescan(&mut data_builder);
                         }
                     }
-
-                    // QUESTION: `actual_delay == process_time + delay`. Is it intended to?
-                    //
-                    // If not, consider fix it to:
-                    //
-                    // ```rust
-                    // let still_need_to_delay = delay.checked_sub(data_builder.now.elapsed());
-                    // if let Some(delay) = still_need_to_delay {
-                    //     thread::sleep(delay);
-                    // }
-                    // ```
-                    thread::sleep(delay);
+                    // TODO: v7.0 use delay - (Instant::now().saturating_duration_since(start))
+                    if let Some(delay) = delay {
+                        let _ = rx.recv_timeout(delay);
+                    } else {
+                        let _ = rx.recv();
+                    }
                 }
             });
     }