Originally Posted by CrawData

This.

There’s also a lot of merit to having one small break while you’re wide awake, and then a really long one later in the flight when you’re often more likely to be tired. Moreover, if there are four pilots splitting things up, each pilot and their IRP can really arrange things however they like, assuming the PIC isn’t a goon about it. If the FO and the IRP swapping into the right seat want big breaks they can do that, and it doesn’t mean the PIC and the other IRP can’t break it up into, say, one long and one short break each. There’s a lot of room for nuance here.

As Sky has very rightly pointed out: these things can be worked out and compromises can be made.