diff --git a/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/WorkflowManager.java b/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/WorkflowManager.java
index 2dde3e56..59f5645e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/WorkflowManager.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/WorkflowManager.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import org.apache.curator.framework.CuratorFramework;
 import java.io.Closeable;
 import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 /**
  * Main API - create via {@link WorkflowManagerBuilder}
@@ -140,4 +141,14 @@ public interface WorkflowManager extends Closeable
      * @return new WorkflowListenerManager
      */
     WorkflowListenerManager newWorkflowListenerManager();
+    
+    /**
+     *  Attempt to stop executing new tasks. 
+     *  Already running tasks will continue till timeout occurs.
+     *  If tasks running are supposed to take long time, its better to give bigger timeOut value.
+     *  
+     * @param timeOut
+     * @param timeUnit the timeunit of timeout (e.g SECONDS, MINUTES)
+     */
+    void gracefulShutdown(long timeOut, TimeUnit timeUnit);
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/details/WorkflowManagerImpl.java b/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/details/WorkflowManagerImpl.java
index 2176fd55..d768fa7c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/details/WorkflowManagerImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/details/WorkflowManagerImpl.java
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
 import java.util.concurrent.FutureTask;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.IntStream;
@@ -594,4 +595,13 @@ private List<QueueConsumer> makeTaskConsumers(QueueFactory queueFactory, List<Ta
 
         return builder.build();
     }
+    
+    @Override
+	public void gracefulShutdown(long timeOut, TimeUnit timeUnit) {
+		 if ( state.compareAndSet(State.STARTED, State.CLOSED) )
+	        {
+	            CloseableUtils.closeQuietly(schedulerSelector);
+	            consumers.forEach(consumer -> consumer.closeGraceFully(timeOut, timeUnit));
+	        }
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/queue/QueueConsumer.java b/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/queue/QueueConsumer.java
index 807f8376..fb6e7091 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/queue/QueueConsumer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/queue/QueueConsumer.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
 import com.nirmata.workflow.admin.WorkflowManagerState;
 import java.io.Closeable;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 public interface QueueConsumer extends Closeable
 {
@@ -30,4 +31,6 @@ public interface QueueConsumer extends Closeable
 
     @VisibleForTesting
     void debugValidateClosed();
+    
+    public void closeGraceFully(long timeOut, TimeUnit timeUnit);
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/queue/zookeeper/SimpleQueue.java b/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/queue/zookeeper/SimpleQueue.java
index f9e2bf80..f2955be6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/queue/zookeeper/SimpleQueue.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/nirmata/workflow/queue/zookeeper/SimpleQueue.java
@@ -331,4 +331,19 @@ private static long getEpoch(String itemNode)
         }
         return 0;
     }
+    
+    @Override
+	public void closeGraceFully(long timeOut, TimeUnit timeUnit) {
+		 if ( started.compareAndSet(true, false) )
+	        {
+	            executorService.shutdown();
+	            try {
+					executorService.awaitTermination(timeOut, timeUnit);
+				} catch (InterruptedException e) {
+					log.error("Exception occurred while waiting for running tasks to complete", e);
+					Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+				}
+	        }
+		
+	}
 }