As part of the "if I am going to fly in the middle of the night for 2 legs try to make it not suck.." plan I have adopted using my GA Bose A20. If the FO is a reader, its perfect. The reduction in noise does IMHO reduce the fatigue a bit and makes the trip nicer, along with the health benefit of not sharing a microphone with the last dozen pilots to fly the jet. It also helps me understand the controllers a bit better, which can be a challenge at times in Asia.
I don't like the difficulty in comm, however, so I pull the inside ear off during group ops and climb. That sort of defeats some of the purpose. If my FO wants to chat, and I enjoy a good chat at cruise as much as anyone, the headset then becomes a bit of a liability. I don't want to say "shut up" with my body language...if you wanna chat let's talk. If you are quiet, however, I just like the peace the headset provides.
I'm still experimenting. I hate to say "let's go hot mike" for the flight as I know most FOs here haven't had to do that. Maybe I can offer it as an option, but I don't want to dictate a brand new habit to a guy who having to work to just stay awake and do the job safely. I always hated the "...oh...and just ONE more little thing I like that's non-standard..." captains when I was an FO, and sure don't want to be that guy. I'm watching this thread for ideas and techniques...