Using Smart Playlists

I've become a big fan of using the "Smart Playlists" function of iTunes. Several weeks ago I read an article from Lifehacker that gave me the idea that I'm using right now. I use a 4-star system and a 5-star system. I created a smart playlist that compiles any song with five stars and that hasn't been played in the last week. This playlist is labeled "Best Songs." They're songs that I don't mind hearing anytime. I then created a second smart playlist that compiles any songs with four stars and that hasn't been played in the last month. These are my "Better Songs." I have a lot of songs with four stars now. I don't rate anything with one, two or three songs.

Rating songs takes a long time. I use the Remote app to rate songs when I'm at home, and I love the fact that I can also rate songs that are on my iPhone. My old iPod didn't have this feature. I created one more Smart Playlist to help with this as well. It compiles songs with no stars and that hasn't been played in the last month. I also used some other parameters so that it would not include podcasts or audio books. As I go through that playlist I can rate songs, which will then move them to my primary two playlists.