diff --git a/config/database.js b/config/database.js
index 7553abb..abbe10e 100644
--- a/config/database.js
+++ b/config/database.js
@@ -1,3 +1,20 @@
-module.exports = {
-  mongoURI: 'mongodb://localhost/tododb-dev'
-}
+const mongoose = require('mongoose');
+
+const options = {
+  useNewUrlParser: true,
+  useUnifiedTopology: true,
+  poolSize: 10, // Maintain up to 10 socket connections
+  serverSelectionTimeoutMS: 5000, // Retry for 5 seconds
+  socketTimeoutMS: 45000, // Close sockets after 45 seconds of inactivity
+};
+
+// Enable detailed logging for MongoDB queries to track performance
+mongoose.set('debug', true);
+
+mongoose.connect(process.env.MONGO_URI || 'mongodb://localhost/tododb-dev', options)
+  .then(() => console.log('Database connected successfully'))
+  .catch((err) => {
+    console.error('Initial connection error:', err);
+    process.exit(1);
+  });
+
diff --git a/models/Todo.js b/models/Todo.js
index acb767a..0748753 100644
--- a/models/Todo.js
+++ b/models/Todo.js
@@ -24,4 +24,7 @@ const TodoSchema = new Schema({
   }
 });
 
-mongoose.model('todos', TodoSchema);
\ No newline at end of file
+// Add indexing for faster queries
+TodoSchema.index({ title: 1, user: 1 });
+
+mongoose.model('todos', TodoSchema);