How to write a reminder of a recommendation letter promised

Question

So I politely requested a recommendation letter in the middle of December and was given a genuine (as far as I could tell) promise to give one, except that it wouldn't be done after the break when school resumed on Jan. 5th.

I'm really sitting pins and needles while trying to compose one. I want to be exceedingly polite and don't want to sound pushy but want to simply remind the person of the matter without sounding like I'm nagging. I also want to convey that I'm expecting one not so soon but definitey not late into the month? Here's what I've got so far, could someone give some advice or suggestions on wordings, tone, ect.?

"Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful vacation and enjoyed your time with family and friends.

I know you are extremelly busy and wanted to breifly touch base with you regarding my request for a letter of recommendation. There's no urgency for the letter, but I would wholeheartedly ?appreciate it if you could find a moment in your busy schedule to write the letter.

Thanks for your time."

Malapropism · Accepted Answer

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful vacation and enjoyed your time with family and friends.
I appreciate it is a really busy time of year, but wanted briefly to touch base with you regarding my request for a letter of recommendation. I would be very grateful if you could forward this to me before the end of the month as I [insert reason: eg. I need to send it to abc by the beginning of February to secure my place at xyz / I need to include it with my job application in order to be considered - etc. ]
Thanks for your time,

Best, [your name]

Raen · Answer

thanks for your suggestion. Do you think I can do without being specific with the time frame? Even though it is true I can wait till the end of January, but before it happens it's really stressful for the time being. I feel like if I provide that, then the letter probably won't come till the very last minute, that's assuming if he still remembers, at which time I probably need to send another (distressed, no doubt) email to remind him of it.

Malapropism · Answer

Hi Raen, yes you can do it without being specific with the time frame. If you don't give some sort of idea when you need it though, from my experience, if the person is busy it is often not prioritised. How about:

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful vacation and enjoyed your time with family and friends. I appreciate Christmas and New Year is a busy time of year, but wanted briefly to touch base with you regarding my request for a letter of recommendation. I would be very grateful if you could forward this to me. Thanks again for your time,
Best, [your name]

How to write a reminder of a recommendation letter promised

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