diff --git a/Lib/asyncio/base_events.py b/Lib/asyncio/base_events.py
index 000647f57dd9e3..7ed4766ef26453 100644
--- a/Lib/asyncio/base_events.py
+++ b/Lib/asyncio/base_events.py
@@ -812,7 +812,10 @@ def call_at(self, when, callback, *args, context=None):
         timer = events.TimerHandle(when, callback, args, self, context)
         if timer._source_traceback:
             del timer._source_traceback[-1]
-        heapq.heappush(self._scheduled, timer)
+        # The `TimerHandle` is wrapped in a tuple to avoid calling the
+        # `TimerHandle.__lt__` method since the `heapq` operations
+        # will need to compare against many other `TimerHandler` objects.
+        heapq.heappush(self._scheduled, (when, timer))
         timer._scheduled = True
         return timer
 
@@ -1959,20 +1962,21 @@ def _run_once(self):
             # Remove delayed calls that were cancelled if their number
             # is too high
             new_scheduled = []
-            for handle in self._scheduled:
+            for when_handle in self._scheduled:
+                handle = when_handle[1]
                 if handle._cancelled:
                     handle._scheduled = False
                 else:
-                    new_scheduled.append(handle)
+                    new_scheduled.append(when_handle)
 
             heapq.heapify(new_scheduled)
             self._scheduled = new_scheduled
             self._timer_cancelled_count = 0
         else:
             # Remove delayed calls that were cancelled from head of queue.
-            while self._scheduled and self._scheduled[0]._cancelled:
+            while self._scheduled and self._scheduled[0][1]._cancelled:
                 self._timer_cancelled_count -= 1
-                handle = heapq.heappop(self._scheduled)
+                _, handle = heapq.heappop(self._scheduled)
                 handle._scheduled = False
 
         timeout = None
@@ -1980,7 +1984,7 @@ def _run_once(self):
             timeout = 0
         elif self._scheduled:
             # Compute the desired timeout.
-            timeout = self._scheduled[0]._when - self.time()
+            timeout = self._scheduled[0][0] - self.time()
             if timeout > MAXIMUM_SELECT_TIMEOUT:
                 timeout = MAXIMUM_SELECT_TIMEOUT
             elif timeout < 0:
@@ -1993,11 +1997,8 @@ def _run_once(self):
 
         # Handle 'later' callbacks that are ready.
         end_time = self.time() + self._clock_resolution
-        while self._scheduled:
-            handle = self._scheduled[0]
-            if handle._when >= end_time:
-                break
-            handle = heapq.heappop(self._scheduled)
+        while self._scheduled and self._scheduled[0][0] < end_time:
+            _, handle = heapq.heappop(self._scheduled)
             handle._scheduled = False
             self._ready.append(handle)
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_asyncio/test_base_events.py b/Lib/test/test_asyncio/test_base_events.py
index c14a0bb180d79b..60fe0633934eae 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_asyncio/test_base_events.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_asyncio/test_base_events.py
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ def cb():
 
         h = self.loop.call_later(10.0, cb)
         self.assertIsInstance(h, asyncio.TimerHandle)
-        self.assertIn(h, self.loop._scheduled)
+        self.assertIn((h.when(), h), self.loop._scheduled)
         self.assertNotIn(h, self.loop._ready)
         with self.assertRaises(TypeError, msg="delay must not be None"):
             self.loop.call_later(None, cb)
@@ -378,13 +378,13 @@ def test__run_once(self):
         h1.cancel()
 
         self.loop._process_events = mock.Mock()
-        self.loop._scheduled.append(h1)
-        self.loop._scheduled.append(h2)
+        self.loop._scheduled.append((h1.when(), h1))
+        self.loop._scheduled.append((h2.when(), h2))
         self.loop._run_once()
 
         t = self.loop._selector.select.call_args[0][0]
         self.assertTrue(9.5 < t < 10.5, t)
-        self.assertEqual([h2], self.loop._scheduled)
+        self.assertEqual([(h2.when(), h2)], self.loop._scheduled)
         self.assertTrue(self.loop._process_events.called)
 
     def test_set_debug(self):
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ def cb(loop):
                                 self.loop, None)
 
         self.loop._process_events = mock.Mock()
-        self.loop._scheduled.append(h)
+        self.loop._scheduled.append((h.when(), h))
         self.loop._run_once()
 
         self.assertTrue(processed)
@@ -486,7 +486,7 @@ def cb():
         self.assertEqual(len(self.loop._scheduled), not_cancelled_count)
 
         # Ensure only uncancelled events remain scheduled
-        self.assertTrue(all([not x._cancelled for x in self.loop._scheduled]))
+        self.assertTrue(all([not x._cancelled for _, x in self.loop._scheduled]))
 
     def test_run_until_complete_type_error(self):
         self.assertRaises(TypeError,
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-08-10-13-10-45.gh-issue-122881.z_n6W-.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-08-10-13-10-45.gh-issue-122881.z_n6W-.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..0f9a291e09efd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-08-10-13-10-45.gh-issue-122881.z_n6W-.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Reduced :mod:`asyncio` :mod:`heapq` scheduling overhead. Scheduling and running an :class:`asyncio.TimerHandle` is now roughly 9.5% faster.