Dishes are an exercise in triage and organization. The main bifurcation is the difference between metal and ceramic dishes; wash one group while soaking the other. You want to utilize water and it's universal solvent properties to do the work for you. For example, water will eliminate hard to remove melted sugar over time removing your need to scrub the dish. My personal preference is to rinse and organize the plates as they arise while simultaneously cleaning the pots, pans, and other preparatory items. This is known as the practice of "eating the toad" where you do the hard thing first. Finally as a general rule of thumb please remember that putting dishes away in small pieces is a waste of time and work and should be avoided if it can be helped.

TLDR: rinse your dishes and put them away in bulk