Methods, systems and devices for improving discontinuous reception (DRX) in wireless telecommunication networks are disclosed. According to an embodiment, a retransmission buffer status report (BSR) timer is implemented in a user equipment (UE) as an attribute that is configurable for each logical channel of the UE. According to another embodiment, a data flush token is implemented as a logical channel attribute in a UE in order to expedite emptying of the UE's uplink buffer. According to another embodiment, improvements are provided to the manner in which a UE determines to cancel regular BSRs. According to other embodiments, features are implemented at a base station such as an E-UTRAN Node B (eNB) to improve downlink and uplink transmission scheduling between the base station and a UE. According to further embodiments, improved methods of detecting and handling late and delayed BSRs are implemented at a base station. The disclosed embodiments promote improved battery life of a UE as well as improved network data performance.