The golden rule is "the less you touch the paint the better". The trick is to wash frequently. Don't let the car get too grubby. It will tempt you into rubbing the dirt away - not desirable!

Pre-conditions: 1.Try to wash in the shade or on a cloudy day. This helps prevent water from drying too quickly and leaving water spots
2.You car has existing LSP (Last Stage Protection), .i.e wax/sealant

To this end i'll cover the basic recipe I use to wash and dry a car.
1.Wash wheels. Spray wheel cleaner that is safe for the type of wheel finish you have and let dwell for a few minutes. Use a flexible brush to wash behind the spokes and the inside of the barrel from a bucket of car wash . Use a mitt dedicated for the wheels to clean the face and a lug nut brush to do the tighter nooks and crannies. Wash your brush/mitt out before returning it to the bucket for more suds. Never use wheel cleaner or the dirty wheel water on paint and throw away the water afterwards.
2.Rinse whole car
3.Pre-soak with a Foam lance - this helps remove loose contaminants
4.2 Bucket wash - one bucket with a grit guard to rinse, the other with suds (and optional grit guard). Dilute the washing soap according to manufacturers instructions. Depending on the product using a higher concentration may remove your LSP. Don't use dish soap. Its a degreaser and will remove your LSP. Use a Lambs wool mitt. The long fibres trap grime and help prevent marring . I start at the top and work my way down the car. Wash one panel using as much suds and water as practical then rinse in the second bucket. Try to glide across the panel using minimal pressure and strokes, allow the water and suds to suspend and carry away dirt and grime. Don't force the mitt into the paint and try to rub away the dirt. Try to hose after every panel or two. Again, this will help prevent the wash solution from drying on the paint.
5.I'm assuming you don't have an air compressor, so final rinse using a technique called "sheeting". This method uses gravity to "pull" the water off the car. If your car is well waxed/sealed then it is possible to remove most of the water from the surface. Again, the purpose here is to minimise touching the car as the less water there is the less work needed to dry. Plenty of online vids illustrating this.
6.Use one or more waffle weave microfibre towel to dry the car. Don't use a chamois. Just gently drag it across the surface or dab to remove water. You'll be surprised how effective this can be. Buy the best waffle towel you can afford. Try not to be lazy and do the door jams and in the engine bay and boot with a general purpose microfibre. Not talking about a full detail here just dry.
7.You can use a quick detailer sprayed onto a plush microfibre to remove the last of the water mist and provide a final shine. Don't spray directly onto the panel as it may cause streaking and can be hard to remove
8.Finally, dress the tires

Microfibre towels are your friend and they all have a specific purpose. Don't use your waffles or plush for door jams, etc and vice versa. Wash and dry after every use. Don't wash with other laundry. I find using a dryer better than air drying and try to use a liquid soap rather than powder. Once you get your system down this should only take an hour or so

If you need more info on the above let me know. Also if you want info on glass, claying, polishing, LSP hit me up

I hope this helps