As an ex-"Aberdeener" I can say several things. First, the regs mostly are written by people who do not understand their subject. As a result, I have about 12K hours "IFR", but my logbook shows a less than a thousand. This is because I only log "IFR" when I know I need the "clocks" to stay alive (and also because I forget to write it down). My advice always has been to look out of the window - can you fly with what you see? Yes = VFR, No = IFR, end of discussion.
What is slightly strange these days is that both pilots are required to log an Instrument Approach - it stems from the fact that they hold an Multi-Pilot Instrument Rating, and you are part of the crew so it goes in the book (but there is no way I am going back to add them all up!)
As someone has already said, what counts is if you can do it, not what the logbook says you have done before. My bottom line is that if I see a 5000 hour pilot with 1000 IFR he/she is not getting a job - this is just make-believe.
Stay safe
Zeb