The present disclosure relates to a 5th generation (5G) or pre-5G communication system for supporting a data transmission rate higher than that of a 4th generation (4G) communication system such as long term evolution (LTE). The present disclosure provides a method and an apparatus for performing discontinuous reception (DRX) in a wireless communication system. An operating method of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system includes detecting a wake-up signal (WUS), and determining whether to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a paging message for a specific time occasion based on the WUS.