After seeing their targeted ad following me around my internet rounds, I knew the aesthetic beauty and functional qualities of this journal subscription were bound to pull me in eventually. Silk + Sonder is a self-professed guided monthly wellness planner.
In a sea of similar products, I wanted to see what made this one special. Armed with a year subscription and their life planner (an add-on purchase I was totally sold on during the check-out process), I set to work incorporating Silk + Sonder into my everyday life as my main planning system.
Ahead, my thoughts on the planner, answers to your burning questions, and all the juicy details in between. Let’s find out if this planner is a good pick for you!
What Is Silk + Sonder?
Silk + Sonder is a guided monthly wellness planner delivered to your doorstep on a monthly basis. Each journal is meant for one month of use and adheres to a specific theme. (June 2023 was ‘Loyalty’.)
Paired with the app, the ‘Sonder Fam’ can hop in on Sonder Socials for planning parties, listen to Daily Rituals, get journaling prompts, and build an affirmation streak–I’m 34 days in and going strong at the time of writing.
Founded by Meha Agrawal in 2017, this planner company has a comfy feel to it thanks to the facilitators of Sonder Socials and the Daily Rituals guided by Meha herself. While this is obviously a big corporation, it doesn’t have that sterilized feel to it which often comes when a company grows up. I love that each item I’ve received feels like it was lovingly created with intention.
Silk + Sonder is available as a monthly, quarterly, or annual subscription. But don’t be confused, this doesn’t refer to when you’ll receive your journals. All subscription types receive one journal each month for that specific month. The subscriptions only change how much you pay and when. (I went with the annual subscription as it was the best price and I figured I’d go all in for a year.)
How Silk and Sonder Works
The subscription model is pretty simple and that’s part of the charm. You get your planner in the mail for the coming month. I received my planners two weeks before the start of the upcoming month. However, for new subscribers, that timeline may look slightly different.
After you receive your planner, it’s up to you how you go about incorporating it into your life. That’s the beauty of this planner–despite being guided, it’s easy to shape it to your needs. In fact, within the app and during Sonder Socials they showcase how other members of the Sonder Fam are using the spreads. For example, I swapped out the budget tracker for a monthly task tracker as I do my monthly budgeting in a separate document and have a system I didn’t want to disrupt. I also swapped out the sleep tracker for a study tracker.
With everyone’s life looking so unique, it’s lovely that they emphasize that you can’t use your planner in the ‘wrong’ way.
As you work through your planner and the month closes out, you tuck away that month’s designated planner and move to the next month’s. For me, this is a fantastic experience, as I tend to get a little overwhelmed when looking at the year as a whole.
Each Monthly Planner Is Packed With Tools
There is no shortage of customization options and exercises within any Silk + Sonder planner. Let’s take a look at the specifications of the planner you’ll receive each month which are as follows.
The Specs
- Paper Weight – 100#* Cover, 70# Pages
- Dimensions – 7” x 8.5”
- Number of Pages – 56
- Binding – Gold Wire-O (Spiral), Lays flat
*The cover is at the high end of heavy paper weight while the interior pages are quite light and comparable to regular copy paper.
I’ve found that the paper weight is satisfactory, if a bit on the thin side. I do have to be careful about what pens I’m using when filling out this planner but that’s an easy change to make.
The planner itself is the perfect size for a month’s worth of journaling, planning, and activities. It won’t stand up to lengthy daily journaling, however. So, you’ll definitely need to have an additional journal specifically for long journaling sessions if that is part of your daily practice.
The binding is durable and the size of the planner is convenient for tucking it into a backpack or purse to take it on the go without it being large and unwieldy.
Theme
Each monthly planner has its own dedicated theme which flavors the activities, Sonder Socials, exercises, and journal prompts for the month.
Some of the themes previously covered include:
- Loyalty
- Delight
- Vibrance
- Gratitude
- Passion
- Abundance
Trackers and Exercises
Every month, your planner will include a habit tracker, mood tracker, month overview, future log, monthly reflections, monthly intentions, month planner, week planner, and day planner. Other details I love are the water tracker and meal tracker. Some of the pages will change depending upon the theme such as the journal prompts page. In the June planner we had a dream job reflection, connect the dots exercise, and future self-portrait page. A bingo sheet, themed word search, recipe, and coloring page are also included in the lineup of guided planner activities.
All this to say, there’s a little of everything in the planner which makes it such an overall excellent package. Plus, there are nine blank grid pages spread throughout the planner for you to journal in or record the guided activities from Sonder Socials and Daily Rituals.
The App Is a Must-Have Companion
I’ll be candid with you here: If there wasn’t a Silk + Sonder app I don’t think I’d be nearly as in love with this planner subscription as I am. The app includes a forum where you can chat with others from the Sonder Fam and pump each other up as you all reach for your goals and overcome obstacles.
The daily affirmation and daily journal prompt give you reasons to tune in each day. Then during weekdays, you’ll get a new Daily Ritual to listen to which will guide you through a different activity. Some activities will focus on filling out your planner while others will focus on completing self-improvement and reflective projects.
Each month, the Daily Rituals are catered toward the theme. The best part is, the back catalog of Daily Rituals is still available to stream. I’ve been working my way through these by listening to more than one a day. Turns out, they’re sort of evergreen if you don’t mind focusing on a variety of other themes.
The Foundation, which is essentially a Daily Rituals 101 introductory course, is Silk + Sonder’s journaling introduction. The app has additional collections of guided activities you can listen to on topics such as perfectionism, mastering productivity, and strengthening relationships.
Another fave from the app is the bingo cards. While you have a blank bingo card you can customize in your physical planner each month, the Silk + Sonder app includes seasonal, monthly, and yearly bingo challenges you can participate in.
There’s a ton of content within the app and it’s ever-expanding and updating with fresh content which keeps it from feeling stale or stagnant.
What We Love
There is so much to love about this subscription, from the vibrant designs of the planner to the constantly refreshing digital content. Here’s what I loved about Silk + Sonder.
Presentation
From the changing monthly designs to the welcome letter in an envelope addressed to me, the presentation is impeccable. It gives ‘cute Etsy shop that definitely cares about what they’re doing’ vibes. I love that for a large company, that could easily fade into being corporatized, they have maintained a personable style.
Start Habit Forming Right Away
You’re sent a welcome guide for getting started when you join that is 48 pages in length and gives you a few printable pages to get started while you wait for the first of the month to circle around or for your planner to ship. This introduces you to the set-up of the Silk and Sonder planners and the various ways they can be customized to your needs. This made it a lot easier for me to start journaling right away while I waited for my first planner to arrive.
Customizable and Adaptable
Probably the biggest benefit of this planning system and subscription service is the sheer amount of customization options you have to work with. Even though the content is guided, you can adapt it to what your life looks like and even change your setups over time as your life evolves.
Personally, I’ve changed my weekly setups and daily setups over the period of time I’ve used the service to change with the different moments in my life. Even on an individual basis, life doesn’t look the same week to week and your planner should be able to meld itself to the flux of living. Silk + Sonder achieves that seamlessly.
If you are leery of too much customization, Silk and Sonder do provide their recommended setup for daily and weekly planning to give you guardrails while getting acquainted with the planning system.
Variety Without Too Much Change
The skeleton of these products stays the same month to month which gives the structure needed to develop good habits and not get too discombobulated on a month-to-month basis. However–and this is the good part–there is still change involved. You don’t have the same design, theme, and exercises every single month. While you’ll have the basics stay the same, you’ll get that dose of variety that makes your brain happy. (At least it makes my mind happy.)
Daily Elements Encourage Habit-Forming Behaviors
The daily elements of tracking daily habits, daily moods, weekly habits, and water intake, among other things, help you to work on forming new habits and keeping up with developed ones. This is something this planner system does exceptionally well and I feel it would be a disservice not to mention it.
Backed By Science With CBT Exercises
Alright, disclaimer time: I’m definitely not a scientist and I’m also definitely not a therapist. I can’t say for sure that these elements are presented properly in the app and planners. However, they are advertised as being backed by science and having CBT exercises.
What I can attest to is my personal experience, for what it’s worth. And I have found I feel more connected to myself and much calmer when dealing with stress or anxiety. It’s also helped me look at life differently and in a more positive manner.
Exercises You’ll Care About
The exercises in your planner make you slow down and consider your life. It helps you to take more intentional steps and set achievable goals. Plus, you’ll have a pulse on your habits and moods among a litany of other important details (like water consumption!).
A Wealth of Digital Supplemental Content
There is just so much within the app. The digital content honestly makes this subscription what it is. Not that the planner isn’t obviously a much-needed part of the equation.
What We Disliked
Okay, time to get nit-picky. As much as I’m a fan of this planner subscription service, there is no perfect anything–including planners. Let’s take a look at some drawbacks to consider before diving into the Sonder Fam.
Spiral Binding
Where are my lefties at? As a fellow left-hander, spiral binding is one of many nemeses I encounter on a regular basis (especially as a writer). I did want to point out that this is spiral-bound and it may be a tad annoying. However, as much as it is a drawback, I don’t have too many problems with it given how small the spiral binding is. But it is worth a mention.
App Can Be Glitchy
Glitchy apps make my eye twitch. Let’s just say there has been some eye-twitching happening as of late when I’m using the “SilkAndSonder” app on my phone (iPhone 13 for those who need a reference point).
But I also want to say that may not always be the case. The major glitches I’ve experienced, like the affirmation not updating once, were fixed within an hour or two of the problem being identified by the community. I have problems with it getting stuck for a moment or just behaving in a laggy manner. However, I will give it to the Silk + Sonder team–they update the app frequently and it is well-organized.
While it’s something I felt like I needed to point out, it’s not so hindering that I’m not constantly using the app and loving every second of it.
Pages Are Fairly Thin
Alright. I know this is a big one for those planner-people such as myself. These pages are somewhat thin. You’ll need to accept that some of your fancy pens may not mesh well with this planner. I’ve found most of my go-to pens work just fine with this planner but there are a few highlighters and felt-tips I avoid because of the relatively thin paper.
This doesn’t feel like a reason not to go with this planner if you like the system. But, then again, I don’t know how attached you are to your preferred writing utensils.
Some Spiritual Elements Here and There
While there are no spiritual or religious elements in the physical planner, there are a few instances within the additional content provided in the app that leans into spiritualism and religion. These occurrences are limited to a one-off mention of the Law of Attraction and developing your faith practice (focused more heavily in the faith-themed month) but are worded in a way that is friendly to all belief systems.
This is another thing like the spiral binding–it’s worth mentioning but it barely qualifies as a drawback. However, for the sake of being as informed as possible, I didn’t want to leave this element out.
How Much Does Silk + Sonder Cost?
Silk + Sonder has three cost tiers based on payment frequency: monthly, quarterly, and yearly. At the time of writing, these were the prices for each membership option:
- Monthly: $24.95
- Quarterly: $19.95
- Yearly: $15.75
The yearly is the best deal if you want to commit to a full year of using this planner system. This is the option I chose. It is stated this membership tier has bonus perks but I don’t find any of them to be particularly enticing. The unlimited classes and events are available to everyone from what I can tell and it doesn’t appear to get you into the few cost-gated events, from my personal experience.
Supplemental Products From Silk + Sonder
Silk + Sonder is all about the monthly planner but that’s far from the only product they offer. The shop carries additional products including:
- A dateless self-care planner
- Thoughts journal
- Journal keepsake box
- Life workbook
While I can’t speak to the specifics of the other products, I do own the Life Workbook and have found it to be a solid companion journal for the monthly planner. If you’re going with a yearly subscription, I’d add the Life Workbook along with it for monthly supplemental activities.
Who Is This Planner For?
This planner is an excellent option for almost anyone. It definitely skews toward the feminine, with women being their target audience. It works for both religious and secular individuals, as well as those at all different life stages. While you may not find spreads geared specifically toward retirement, child-rearing, or school, the exercises and spreads are easily adaptable to many types of living.
Final Verdict
After over a month of Silk + Sondering, I can say I’m a fan who is here to stay. This planner subscription will be heavily used by me, myself, and I for the 300+ days that remain in my subscription plan (possibly longer). It can be easily adapted to different lifestyles and planning styles. Plus, it will evolve as you do. With the social elements and the app features, this planner subscription gives you a well-rounded experience that touches on self-improvement, self-care, and productivity. This is 100% a recommendation from She’s Got Plans.
How We Tested
Any time I find a product to review, I bring that product into my day-to-day life and use it for at least a month. This gives me hands-on experience with the product I’m testing to give you a thorough look at whether the product is worth it or not. In this case, I bought the year-long subscription and the Life Workbook companion. I’ve been using these as my daily planner and journal during my testing time and plan to continue using them. As time goes on, I return to old reviews to update them based on changes to the product, company, or subscription.
