Why do you think this is a stupid question? We all encounter this problem, albeit not to the extent that you do. I struggle too.
Here is what I have found.
1. Look into alternative and natural therapies within your financial means. I'm not much of a "granola", but people have had success with acupuncture, message, acupressure, herbal remedies, aromatherapy, healing prayer/meditation/imagery, and other remedies. Make sure you eat the absolute best diet you can and get exercise within your ability. There's a lot of conflicting nutritional advice out there, so go for well-established advice like minimizing caffeine and sugar, eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and avoiding fried foods and saturated fats. If you have any excess weight, make a plan to get rid of it because your body is using energy maintaining that extra weight. (Unless of course your condition will make it difficult to keep weight up - talk to your doctor.) Because you don't have any energy to spare, you need to do everything you can to maximize it. Note any dietary or environmental changes that impact you negatively or cause your condition to get worse, and cut them out. I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure yours would agree with I'm saying here. Do ask your doctor for suggestions on maximizing your energy, and (this is the hard part) follow them.
2. Make your home life easy - a simple sanctuary. Store things where they will be used. Baskets are great for this. Eg. make a "coffee basket" with coffee, tea, creamer, and cups so that you don't have to go all around the kitchen to make coffee. Don't buy or hang on to any more items than you have to - these are all items that you have to dust, store, clean, maintain, fix, get out, put away, etc, and you cannot afford the energy to take care of things you do not need. Brutally get rid of things that you don't need or love. Freecycle.com is great for this and people will come to your house to pick things up. Keep furniture arrangements simple so you don't need to waste extra steps walking around them.
3. Consider the "energy cost" of everything. Someone asks you to volunteer? You want to buy a new gas grill? Think about the energy it will take to do or maintain versus the enjoyment or usefulness it will provide you. Be sure to kindly say no if you cannot afford the energy cost. Just as you simplify your home, be sure to simplify your activities. Really evaluate what needs doing on your list. We tend to put a lot of "nice to haves" on our lists. For those things that really do need to get done, ask yourself "What is my end result here? Is there another way to get that same result?" A lot of the time, yes, there is an easier way, but we just don't ask ourselves.
4. For you, even more than others, it is important to write everything down and keep your paperwork organized. Keep all your medical paperwork organized. I find it helpful to keep a notepad with dates and medical appointments, drugs prescribed, etc, and you can bring this to every appointment. It will help doctors see at a glance what has been tried and where you are and speed up appointments (no more questions repeated fifteen times). You need to keep your next-actions off your mind - even if your list is really big, don't worry about not getting it done. I have months-old actions on my list, but at least I know they're there, and if they are not urgent at this time, it is ok to leave them there.
5. Heal your relationships with other people - emotional discord can be a huge energy drainer, while good friendships and family relationships boost your energy.
6. As others have said, use your energy however you can. If you're dead on the couch, make a context list for it. Put all your supporting materials right there next to the couch. Remember your baskets? OK. Make a basket - put a portable phone in there, your mail, your filing, whatever you feel you can do while you're down and out, and when you flop down on the couch, reach for the basket.
7. With regard to your multiple projects, it is better to focus on one thing than to tackle multiple projects at once. You will waste time (and energy) switching from one task to another. If you can work for 2 weeks on one project and get it done, trust me, it will be much more empowering and energizing than working on 10 projects at once and getting them done in 5 months. You can do this by looking at due dates, priorities, and picking one based on that. Brutally cut out projects that won't give you as much enjoyment or value as they will cost you in energy. And if you find in the middle of an project that it is draining more energy than the amount of value the end result will give you, abandon it. Many people will not agree with me on this, and for those people, I say to look up the sunk cost fallacy in Wikipedia.
I hope this helps, and if you find anything that works for you, let me know because again, we all have this problem!! :-D
