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You don’t need to use sparks for everything or anything really. The base mechanics are the simplest for new RPGers or us veterans looking for more story and less convoluted or overly complex mechanics.

At the base it’s just a range how well you did on a D20. No modifiers. 

Think about your example. what does tracking HP really do? Nothing until you are dead. Some games have a negative modifier or other limit at a low HP threshold. HP is nothing but a countdown or a tracker until you can’t do something. 

Everspark skips all the tracking unless you want to use a spark. 

Just remember, before you roll, define what success and failure looks like. In a typical game, a successful attack means you lower some enemy HP and the enemy goes, does the same and you roll back and forth until a winner (yawn). 

In Everspark, Let’s say I come across some goons, they stop me. Now I have to decide what to do. Can I reason with them. Maybe 5 or less on a d20 lets me reason. Rolled an 11. Nope, they don’t want to talk… they want to fight. 

So I attack. If I get a success, it means I defeat the goons. Failure, means I am stopped, and defeated in some way. 

I will say failure means I am captured. 

I roll a 8. Ugh. So I succeed but have a complication. So I defeat the goons but I am left with a wounded leg that will make the next encounter harder if I don’t heal. Or maybe now my travel will be slower leaving my quest in danger. 

So you don’t need to look up modifiers for range, weapons, skills etc. 

Define what success and failure looks like and simply roll.

jot down notes for each encounter so you know what happened. This way you can adjust what success and failure look like based on what has happened. 

I understand where you're coming from. HP seems easy because it is so ingrained in the culture, and it doesn't require narrative. It is simple math, but it does not tell a story. 'I lose 8HP' means what? What do we see in the screen? What happened to you? What changed? By removing HP, we open up story avenues. 

The struggle you're feeling now is part of our assumptions that we need a mechanical translation of an effect for a result to feel valid. Everspark invites you to consider it differently. Beginners, especially because they don't have experience with other RPGs, jump into the narrative train easily, from my experience. "I rolled an 8, hmmm, perhaps it grabs me by the sword and shakes me to the side!" Fun! What now? Where do I go from here? We can see that scene in our minds. We can't see "I lose 8 HP". 

Sparks can be fun, but they should be used mindfully. If you do rely on Sparks for everything, it will be overwhelming, as you said. That is why it is one of the Spark Principles I highlight in the book. Go easy on them as you start. I have a table with 8 beginners, and after 23 sessions, everyone is happily going crazy with them now. 

But mostly, embrace narrative consequences. How does your position to affect the story changes after a bad roll? Close your eyes and see it as a movie, not a video game. 

I hope that helps a bit! And thank you for your questions, they are very important! I encourage you to give it a go for a few sessions with that in mind. Feel free to ask more clarifications, if needed. Also, Tony examples above are great too!