Silk + Sonder is a monthly planner subscription that makes planning, reflecting, and achieving easy and fun by delivering a new pen-to-paper experience every month. Every month features new layouts that are "inspired by positive psychology, bullet journaling, and self-help books."
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About this Planner Subscription
The Subscription Box: Silk + Sonder
The Cost: $19.95/month with free shipping. Save with an annual subscription ($13.33 per monthly kit)
The Products: Each month delivers a new, hand-curated planner of calendar spreads, habit trackers, coloring, and much more straight to your doorstep.
Ships to: The US
Silk + Sonder March 2020 Review
Every month, your Silk + Sonder planner is created around a different theme. March's theme is Knowledge. Here's a letter from them regarding their vision around this theme and what they hope you get out of exploring it this month.
1 of 2
Here's the table of contents to help you quickly reference whichever section you're looking for, and also some tips about how to use some of the exercises, tools, and pages they included this month.
1 of 2
Next are some features standard to any planner: a 2020 overview, and the whole month at a glance. They also include a 4-month "look-ahead" spread so you can keep things organized and see what's coming up in the near future easily.
1 of 2
The next pages offer some reflection and intention setting exercises - a perfect way to begin your month! I loved the language they use: listing February "wins," "hiccups" (not failures!), "favorite moments," "hard moments," and asking yourself "What do I want to Start, Stop, and Continue?" I thought these were effective, uplifting, and great things to think about!
1 of 3
Every month's planner includes a mood and habit tracker, though the designs are fresh each month. This month they are circles you fill in each day with different colors. I like this! It's fun and helpful to remember small things I want to prioritize each day like vitamins, reading, etc.
My mood tracker was a good tool, as well - I realized I've been doing really well lately. It's something I've been keeping an eye on, especially postpartum, and it's good to see an overall look of my moods and feelings for the month. If I had been tracking this since having my baby, it would be really interesting to compare the ratios of poor days to positive days and how they've improved as I've been making progress with anxiety.
1 of 2
The next spread is specific to the Knowledge theme: a Learning Log and a Knowledge Jar. I've really enjoyed filling these pages! I thought they were very original. The Learning Log prompts us to "every day, write one new thing you learned about yourself, a subject, another person, etc." It's made me pay attention more, and it's fun to look back now that I'm a couple of weeks into the month. Some days I'd sit and look at this page blankly, thinking "I haven't learned anything today, have I?" And then I would remember a quick Google search about a question, or an observation about one of my kids! Lately, I've been noting when I pick up some sort of new information like this, whereas before I would totally not notice these kinds of small moments.
The Knowledge Jar says, "The Power of Knowledge is in sharing. How are you deepening your knowledge and imparting knowledge on others?" I liked this prompt, too, and I filled this jar with things like "teaching my 4-year-old basic reading skills," "learning a new board game as a family," "husband and I are learning about refinancing as we start the process," and "conversations that grow my marriage and teach me and my spouse more about each other."
1 of 3
This spread is "Knowledge Prompts." Again, I thought these exercises and questions were original and productive. They include "10 things you know about yourself now that you didn't know 5 years ago," "What is a book that spoke to you on a personal level and why?" "Who is a person that has been instrumental in shaping your view of the world?" "Do you lean into challenge or away from it? Describe a time you were given a challenge you weren't sure you could complete. How did the situation make you feel?" and "You have an entire day to yourself; how do you spend it?" I enjoyed taking my time with these and answering just a question or two when I had some time here and there.
1 of 2
These pages are a Curiosity Exercise and a Play to Learn Exercise. The Curiosity Exercise asks "Knowledge is derived by profound curiosity. Take a look around your surroundings throughout the month - objects, people, systems, nature. What sparks your curiosity? Write it down in question form." I struggled with this practice the most this month. I wasn't quite sure what kinds of things to write. Most things I thought of were questions I was about to Google really quick. I ended up writing things like "Why is our bathroom fan making that terrible screechy noise?" because I can definitely say that I'm curious and confused about that, ha ha.
The Play to Learn Exercise is a place to list some skills, hobbies, or books you've been putting off. I listed things like, "skills: sourdough, and how to cut my boys' hair myself;" and "hobbies: try more puzzles, and try digital drawing."
1 of 3
Also within the planner is a coloring page, some quote pages, and two recipes.
1 of 2
Here's a look at another quote, a monthly expense tracker, and one of my favorite features - grid note pages! There's plenty in here throughout the planner, including after every weekly spread in the back. I love these pages because they leave room for notes, brain dumping, lists, journaling, or bullet journal spreads.
1 of 3
Okay, so after all of those reflecting pages and exercises, now we're at the actual planning part! Here's a look at the weekly spreads. Every week has these pages that feature a space for weekly to-do, habit/activity tracker, "This Week, I Want to Feel," "Weekly Major 3 Goals," a meal plan, a mind/body health plan, shopping list, and a box to write down a great food, memory, and song of the week!
Following that, the weekly schedule pages are pretty simple. I actually really like that all the extras and goal planning sections are together on a separate page so when I look at my schedule it's not cluttered. The weekly pages feature a "one thing" box at the top for you to plan one thing you can get up and do right away to start your day on the right foot. Then some grid boxes for you to write your schedule each day, and at the bottom is a very simple water tracker.
Verdict: I have very much enjoyed my first Silk + Sonder planner! I love positive psychology and personal development like this so much that they're actually part of my degree. I loved the Knowledge theme I got to experience this month, especially because I've been focusing on knowledge a lot this year and trying to jump into learning things I want to and trying out new skills and experiences. I thought the design of this planner was beautiful, the exercises and prompts were original and thought-provoking, and I really liked having a small planner just for this month. It made it really easy to carry around and jot down notes or add appointments easily—much easier than the big, bulky planner I had bought for the whole year. I'm already really excited for next month's!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you'll receive April as your first month. The theme is "Vulnerability." A note from Silk + Sonder on shipping:
You can expect your SILK + SONDER issue to arrive 2-5 days before the 1st of every month.
Check out our list of the best women's subscription boxes for 2020 to see which boxes were recommended by MSA readers like you!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
Do you think you'll subscribe to the Silk + Sonder? What are your thoughts about my first month?
Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.